History of a Teacher
by Famous Fault
Summary: (OoTP) Seeking vengeace for the death of his friends Yugi gets into trouble and is offered a haven in Hogwarts in exchange for his services as History of Magic teacher. He accepts and soon is responsible for greater chaos at Hogwarts than the school has ever faced before. At the same time the Shadow Creatures have their own agenda, causing even more chaos and great tragedy. REVISED
1. Death

This story is set during Order of the Phoenix and after the end of the Yu-gi-oh series.

* * *

><p>He woke screaming once again. The nightmares were still common, even now, four years later. It was a cruel fate, needing to wake up every night, having seen the most horrible moment in his life. At age twenty-one he should not be required to go to bed every night with that horrible feeling in his stomach. His only comfort was the presence of the soul inside the golden artifact around his neck.<p>

Yes, the Pharaoh was still with him, but that was never what was supposed to have happened. And it was something Yugi had to live through every night, over and over again. His nightmares didn't fade with time, on the contrary, they were so livid that it was as if he had to live through those terrible events again and again.

"Now could you please stop screaming. You'll wake the other persons here! Take a Sleeping Potion or something!" the bed he was sleeping in murmured tiredly.

At that point Yugi was use to his bed's complains every time he woke up screaming. Not just the complains of his bed, but all the chairs in his room in the Leaky Cauldron were always communicating their grievances too. For some reason the furniture had taken a dislike to him.

It wasn't just the furniture in this room, his previous room, room 11, had contained talking windows and mirrors. The mirrors were always complaining about his hair and the windows about the fact that he always kept the curtains shut. He had soon switched rooms, but it had been no use.

He guessed that it was because of the darkness that surrounded him. The magic of the Shadows still obeyed the Pharaoh within him. Neither the Pharaoh nor the Shadow Magic should still have been around. Yugi had won, the gate had opened … and someone had interfered when they shouldn't have. A man with long white-blonde hair had made sure that the Millennium Items weren't destroyed. He had been unaware about doing so, for sure, but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was that that man had felt power and had tried to destroy it before it became a threat and by doing so he saved that very same power he'd wished to exterminate. The only thing he had destroyed was Yugi's peace of mind and the lives of all his friends.

Yugi turned on a lamp and got out of bed. He had long ago gotten rid of his pajama with stars on them and nowadays slept in his black underwear. He got himself dressed and looked at his watch; it showed 4.45 in the morning. It was too early to go down for breakfast, but he didn't want to go back to sleep. Instead he picked up a book that he had been reading, one of the many he had bought in Diagon Alley.

This one was called _Curses and Counter-Curses_ by Professor Vindictus Viridian. He still hadn't found that one particular curse that had done so much damage in such a short amount of time. Then he came to a chapter called 'The Unforgivable Curses'. That sounded promising. What the blonde man had done to him and his friends was unforgivable enough.

_'There are three unforgivable curses. The Imperius curse, the Cruciatus curse and the killing curse...'_

That sounded promising. Yugi only read half the parts about the Imperius and Cruciatus curse and started to read more eager when he came to the killing curse.

_'Immediate death...'  
><em>_'No visible cause of death...'  
><em>_'Forbidden...'  
><em>_'Lifetime in Azkaban...'  
><em>_'Green Flash...'  
><em>_'No known counter-curse...'__  
><em>

_Green Flash?_ Yugi thought and had no trouble recalling the terrible events haunting his dreams every night. Green flashes of light was all he had seen when the blonde man had started yelling strange words.

/_I think we found it, partner_/ Yugi mentally told the transparent ancient spirit sitting on the bed next to him.

/_Looks like it; it is too much of a match for it not to be._/ Atem searched the text. /_Look._/ He pointed at some sentences in the book and started reading aloud. /'_The killing curse is the only curse that immediately ends the life of the person hit with it' If it is the only one, it must be this one that he used_/

Yugi nodded. "No wonder we didn't understand what was happening", he told his darker and looked at the text.

"Who are you talking to?" the bed muttered. "Even if you have no desire to sleep, I do!"

"Oh, shut up and sleep then!" Yugi said and kicked one of the bed's posts. "You could be a bit friendlier you know!"

The bed just whined a bit about his mistreated post and went quiet.

Yugi picked up a bag and dug out a notebook while scribbling down the information in Japanese.

/_So this is what we've got so far_/ Yugi told Atem through the mind link, not wanting to upset the bed again. /_The ones that were present were Jonouchi, Honda, Anzu, Otogi, Grandpa, Ryou, Ishizu, Marik, Rishid, Kaiba and Mokuba. The only survivors were Mokuba and Ryou. The rest was killed by a tall, blonde man wearing a black cloak and a skull as mask. He did it with the killing curse most likely because of the power he felt. The first one he hit was you but you didn't die because you are already dead._/ Yugi stopped there. He had said this so often that he didn't start crying anymore, but he still didn't like it

/_Yugi, you should allow yourself to grieve properly. You try to distract yourself by trying to find their killer. But once you have properly grieved you will be much more effective_/

It wasn't the first time that Atem had told Yugi that but once again Yugi didn't listen. "I have already grieved; now I just have to find that goddamn murderer! Listen, Atem; we have gotten this far not by grieving but by action! Now we've found another clue to what happened. I can't wait for the moment that I see that piece of filth dead!"

/_Yugi!_/ Atem said shocked. /_Don't say that! It's not like you! You're changing Yugi, and it's not to the better._/

"I'm more confident and stronger than ever before. So it depends on how you see it!" Yugi snapped at Atem.

/_You are ruthless and harsh; you never smile anymore and hunger for vengeance..._/

Yugi glared at the transparent being next to him. "Sounds familiar?"

Atem drew a deep breath and his scarlet eyes widened. /_Yugi!_/ Atem was quiet for a while, trying to come up with a good reply. /_Yes, you are right. That was me, but it was your light that guided me back to the right track. But as you are now, you wouldn't have; you would have made it worse. You are not a light anymore._/

Yugi sighed and looked suddenly much more like the person Atem had known before the massacre than he had for months. "I know. But you were a good person; otherwise, why would you otherwise have sacrificed yourself to save your people?"

Atem smiled a bit but didn't reply; he was just glad that Yugi had calmed down.

/_Perhaps you'd better study for your new job, there aren't many days left._/ Atem shook his head a bit. /_I don't understand how all this has happened us_/

"Neither do I", Yugi whispered and picked up _Hogwarts: A History_ by Chronicles Punnet. "I'm becoming a teacher! A teacher at a school teaching magic." Yugi laughed a bit. "Hope I make a better teacher than Chouno", Yugi said with a shiver.

/_Er... Yugi, do you remember Ribbon?_/ Atem asked Yugi.

"I don't know a Ribbon. At least I don't think so … Oh, wait, you mean Miho Nosaka. I remember her; that was the girl Tristan had a crush on. We wrote her a puzzle. It's weird though, I nearly don't remember that lesson at all. It was the same day Chouno quit …" Then it dawned on Yugi. "Ya … I mean Atem. What did you do to her?"

/_I showed the world her true face._/ Atem confessed. His eyes narrowed. /_Her looks match her personality nowadays. It's not a pleasant sight._/

Yugi laughed lowly. "I don't pity her."

/_I know,_/ Atem said and it was exactly what troubled him.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure of this, Dumbledore?" Severus Snape asked the headmaster of Hogwarts. "I understand the idea behind it, but I do not like him. He's dark, perhaps even as dark as the Dark Lord himself."<p>

"Severus", Dumbledore said with low voice to avoid calling the attention of the rest of the order. "Darkness has many sides. The darkness of this young man comes from loss, much like the darkness you contain yourself. Despite he is simply a muggle, why would you fear him?"

Severus frowned. "You do not honestly expect me to believe that this person is a mere muggle?"

"Doesn't it all depend on how you interpret the term, Severus?" Albus Dumbledore asked with a faint smile on his lips.

"A muggle is someone who is unable to use magic the way we do", Severus said, not thinking entirely through his words.

"Than he is a muggle by your standards. He didn't even know about the wizarding world until I introduced him to it, so I honestly don't understand why you are so against it, Severus."

"You are leading him straight into death! The Death Eaters will kill any muggle they'll find inside the castle when they try to get in; I might be the one having to kill him! It started with Bertha Jorkins, and this muggle will be next!" Severus said, feeling frustrated.

"Now, now Severus. Are you starting to care for others now? This muggle might be able to stop many of the student becoming followers of Lord Voldemort. We could save many students by sacrificing one person. But people are rarely as harmless as they seem. I'm not heartless, Severus. I haven't chosen young mister Muto as sacrificial lamb; there is some sort of strength in him which I hope will help us."

Severus glared at the huge fireplace in number twelve Grimmauld Place. He knew that Albus Dumbledore could think in ways not many could: placing the group before the individual, yet Severus Snape was not happy with the attitude the headmaster of Hogwarts had towards people he didn't know. He saw them as weapons rather than people. Severus, knowing what Dumbledore was up to, couldn't help but feel sorry for the new History of Magic teacher despite his immediate dislike of him.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure that Harry does not get expelled from Hogwarts."

The headmaster was ready to leave the house and Apparate when Snape called out, "Dumbledore!"

"What is it Severus?" the headmaster asked looking somewhat impatient.

"What is he like?"

"Do you mean young mister Muto? Why do you want to know?"

"It's just that ... If I do not like him it will be easier for me to watch him being killed, or even kill him, when that time comes."

Dumbledore looked at Snape for a moment; his impatience had vanished. "I reckon you have no second thoughts about our agreement?"

"No, I do not. I understand it is necessary. However, I've been preparing mentally. I want to prepare for the death of anyone else I know, or will get to know."

"Severus, you know that better than I do", Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eyes nowhere to be seen.

* * *

><p>Diagon Alley was the most interesting place Yugi had ever been to. The problem was that he had no free access to it. He always had to wait for a witch or wizard to open the door in the courtyard by tapping the correct brick. Because Yugi owned no wand of his own he wasn't able to open it himself.<p>

A week before he was to take the Hogwarts Express he entered Diagon Alley once again. At this point he had only visited Flourish & Blotts to learn more about the world he was currently residing in. Now he had to get ready for teaching at Hogwarts; he'd have to blend in as well as he could did he want to learn whom the blonde man was that had killed his friends.

The first stop he made was at a shop next to Flourish & Blotts. It was Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Yugi wasn't stupid, and he knew he stood out, wearing the clothes he did. He got himself a casual black robe that would do for teaching but he doubted he would actually use it. He liked his own style way too much. He wondered if he would be forced to wear these robes as a teacher or if they all did it out of their own free will.

He strayed some more trough the street and got a lot of weird looks despite the fact that most people could look straight over him, short as he was. He knew it was because of his hair and clothes, but he didn't care.  
>When Yugi passed Ollivanders Atem smirked.<p>

"What's so funny?" Yugi demanded to know out loud.

Atem had noticed the golden text on the sign for the first time. It read: _Ollivanders: Makers of fine wands since 382 BC ._

/_I'm approximately 2600 years older,_/ Atem said and the two of them laughed together, almost like old times. Almost.

On occasion his thoughts wandered towards the bag with six of the Millennium Items in his room at the Leaky Cauldron and didn't like the fact that he couldn't bring it along. He found a solution to that in Twilfitt and Tatting's. The cloth shop didn't only hold clothes but also a number of small bags with an Invisible Extension spell on it. Eventually he found a small brown leather necklace with a little scarlet bag to it. It was the kind of necklace people kept stones in.

Just for the sake of it, he went in to Eeylops Owl Emporium and watched all the owls. He didn't feel the need to keep one, he had no one to write to anyway. However, he liked it in there; it was a dark place filled with soft hooting.

Eventually his worries about the Millennium Items became too much to bear and he went back to the Leaky Cauldron. He directly put all the items in the little bag he had bought and hung it around his neck. He had just fastened the leather cord when someone knocked on the door to his room.

He opened and before him stood a tall man with a crooked nose and long white hair and beard. It was the man that had recognized the picture he had drawn of the murderer. However this same man had not spilled a word about who or what this person was. Instead he had been introduced to this entire new world.

"Welcome. Please come in", Yugi said and opened the door a bit further as an invite.

"Thank you. I'm sure you know I'm here for a reason", the old man said in a serious voice.

"You made it quite clear that you are a busy man, so I assume you do", Yugi said, sounding slightly hostile.

/_Yugi..._/ Atem sighed. The Pharaoh could not understand how the cheery high school boy could have transformed to this hostile man. Beause it was for certain that Yugi was not a child anymore.

"Yes, I'm here for a quite important reason. First of all, I'd like to inform you that I have a very bad reputation, and if I don't I will soon get one. I'd just like to point out I am no madman nor am I dangerous … to most people."

Yugi raised an eyebrow. Surely he had read the paper, the Daily Prophet. But even though he could fluently speak and understand English reading was still quite hard. He had not understood the articles about the headmaster very well. He just knew that they weren't in Dumbledore's favor.

"Second of all, about what you are suppose to teach. There are no strict rules about that at our school. Every teacher teaches in his or her own way. It's all up to you. Third of all, have you ever heard about Lord Voldemort?"

Yugi shook his head. That name he had never heard before.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Have you ever heard about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or The Dark Lord?"

Now that rung a bell at Yugi's. He nodded and said, "I've heard a word or two. He was said to be an evil wizard, greedy for power who believed that muggles were to serve the wizards of pure-blooded families. He rose to power fifteen years ago but died when one of his own spells rebounded on him. I picked up different things here and there. He didn't sound like a nice person."

"You have picked up things quite fast for someone newly introduced to the wizard world."

Yugi gave a wry smile. He wasn't going to hide that he had tried to learn as much as possible.

Dumbledore gave him a warm smile. "I just want to warn you. The Dark Lord is not be spoken about in past tense but now in present. Being a muggle, it will not be very safe for you at Hogwarts, or in this world in generall. If you wish, you can still leave before he returns to his full power and claims the lives of everyone he deems unworthy of being part of this world." The white-haired man almost looked as if he hoped Yugi would decline.

"Tell me one thing. This man that killed my friends, has he anything to do with this Dark Lord of yours?" Yugi asked with a flicker in his eyes that hinted at anger.

Dumbledore frowned and for a moment Yugi thought he wasn't going to answer. Then: "I must tell you the truth; yes, he does. He is a member of a group called Death Eaters. They are Lord Voldemort's most loyal servants and are cruel and dangerous people."

Yugi eyed the man in front of him. It made him feel uncomfortable that this man was so much taller, and as if the headmaster had heard his thoughts he sat down on the bed.

The bed murmured: "You are not going to wake me screaming again, are you?"  
>Yugi gave the bed a kick, making it grunt: "I deserved that."<p>

Dumbledore didn't seem the slightest surprised by the fact that the bed was talking. "Have you been having nightmares?"

"Yes, I have them often." Yugi felt no need to deny it now that the bed had made it so obvious that he did. "I relive the events that brought me here in the first place. It is not, how do you say it, appreciated." He sighed and sat down on a wooden chair, putting his feet with the buckled boots on the desk, and threw an arm over the backrest.

"Nightmares are something we all must deal with on occasion. However, when they overstay their welcome, we can get ourselves some help. Here is a Sleeping Potion; don't look so troubled. It's nothing like these weird pills you've got in the muggle world." Dumbledore gave the young man a little smile

Yugi was in no mood to small talk. "About the issue with danger regarding the teaching job, I will not decline just because of these Death Eaters. I'll help you fight them, for what it's worth."

"Teach the children what you want. Remember that knowledge is the strongest power", the headmaster said and frowned a bit at his own words. "Which brings us to the main reason for my visit."

Yugi simply raised an eyebrow as encouragement for the long bearded man to continue.

"You are no mere muggle. I can sense a deeper darkness than that the loss of your friends and family left you. I do however not think you want us harm; besides we have the same enemy. I just need to know that you make no threat to my students. Give me a sign I can rely on you. I've often been told that I'm too trusting, but I have always had a good reason to trust these people."

Yugi gave a hard smile. "I recognize that. I used to trust people; I learned the hard way that you can't always... Hmm." Yugi took a brief pause to debate with Atem.

/_It's up to you_/ Atem said quietly.

"Alright let's make a deal. I tell you something about me that you'll find interesting as a sign of trust, but as a sign of your trust in return, I want you to tell me who the Death Eater was that killed my friends and family. I promise I will not kill or harm him in any other way unless in self-defense."

Dumbledore looked amused, worried, curious and serious all at the same time. "Sounds fair enough. The Death Eater that killed your friends was most likely Lucius Malfoy. He is a high ranked Death Eater that escaped Azkaban after the war ..."

"Azkaban?" Yugi interrupted.

"Ah, yes. Azkaban is a prison, a prison for wizards. It has some methods I wish were not used. Ever heard about Dementors?"

"I can not say I have." Yugi said, his interest awoken.

"They are soul sucking creatures. They feed on fear, making people relive their worst memories. However, Lucius Malfoy escaped both Azkaban and them. Now he is Hogwarts governor, has high friend in the ministry and keeps a good name by donating lots of money to charity and St. Mungo's Hospital. He is a dangerous opponent. There is one other thing; his son starts fifth year in Hogwarts this year. I hope you treat him equally well as the rest of the students."

Yugi frowned; he was insulted. "Sure, I seek revenge, but I know you can't blame the son for the sins of his father."

/_Thank you, Yugi_/

/_In your case it was your uncle. I do not believe that it was your fathers fault_/

/_It wasn't... It was indeed Akunadin that killed the villagers of Kul Elna_/

"That's what I hoped you would say. Now then, what would interest me?" Dumbledore said interrupting their silent conversation.

"Me." Yugi sighed, not sure how to begin. "We are three in this conversation."

"Are we?" Dumbledore said, if not surprised, amused.

"Yes, we are. Some years ago, I solved a puzzle, this puzzle..." Yugi held up the Millennium puzzle with two hands without taking it off, so Dumbledore could see. "It took me eight years. When I solved the puzzle, I released an ancient spirit. Ever since, he has been sharing my body, and he is my best friend, a brother I guess. We were trying to find a way for him to make him move on when that Death Eater attacked us and removed that possibility."

Dumbledore seemed more than interested, yet worried. "You must realize that I need to think about the safety of my students. We have had a possessed teacher before, and it almost led to the death of a student."

"I fully understand."

Dumbledore was, despite what some thought, no fool, and he could clearly hear and see the difference between the man, the boy, he had hired and this man standing before him. Especially the eyes made an obvious difference, they had been Amethyst earlier, now they were as red as blood.

"You are the spirit possessing young mister Muto?" Dumbledore asked cautiously. The only type of possession he had ever dealt with were filled with fright and sorrow from the possessed side and malice from the possessing side.

Atem took his feet down from the desk and straightened his back. Folding his hands underneath his chin, he then placed his elbows on his knees and turned somber eyes on to Dumbledore.

"I would not exactly call it possessing. I have once pledged never to disobey his wishes because I'm well aware that this is his life, not mine. Once I've broken that promise and the consequences were so severe I would never do it again." Atem's eyes narrowed in a mixture of guilt and hatred.

"What's your name?" Dumbledore knew that with a name he would be able to learn a lot about this particular spirit.

Atem chuckled lowly. "I am not that easy fooled. You needn't know my name; everything you want to know you can ask me. But simply remember this; I'd do anything to protect my _hikari_."

Although Dumbledore had no idea what the last word meant, he understood that the spirit meant Yugi, and he picked up on the edge of sadness when the spirit said the word.

"You are the darkness that I and many others sense coming from mister Muto", Dumbledore noted. With a darkness that was greater than that of the Dark Lord he couldn't trust this spirit very easily.

Atem gave a short nod. "I am. When I was set free, I had no memory from what happened to me and it was Yugi who kept me on the right track. While I was learning about origins of this item I was told that an evil being had been sealed away within … it."  
>Atem hesitated the slightest. There was no need to inform the headmaster that there was more than one item.<br>"I thought they meant me. Now, I know that I sacrificed my own life to lock away a dark power my people controlled. It was created for good, but it was too dangerous, too dark. That dark power was released with me and I still control it. The power I control is what you sense. I don't use it though; too many have suffered at it's hands. It hasn't always been just me who controlled those dark powers. However, others no longer have any acces to them."

"Then you are ..." Dumbledore had to look for the word. "a guardian then?"

Atem shook his head. "Not really. But these powers will stand against that Dark Lord of yours. From what I've heard you can use all the help you can get."

"Alright then", Dumbledore said and did exactly what he was so well known for. He decided to trust this stranger with the spirit. "I see you and mister Muto at Hogwarts 1st of September." The headmaster turned and opened the door.

He was just about to close it when Yugi called out: "Wait! I still have a question!" Yugi had one hand reaching out towards the headmaster as if that would keep him there.

"What is it?" Albus Dumbledore asked patiently and for some reason Yugi had the feeling that the headmaster already knew what he was about to ask.

"The killing curse … Does it hurt? Avada Kedavra, does it hurt being killed like that? Did they … suffer?"  
>Yugi had trouble finding the correct words and to Atem's delight he was nearly the innocent little boy he had come to know and love again. But he anxiously awaited Dumbledore's answer sitting in spirit form on the bed.<p>

"I don't know. Only one person has ever been hit with the curse and survived it. He was just over a year at the time and does not remember it so it isn't known how much it hurts." Dumbledore took a pause and turned to look at Yugi. "But people die immediately and I do not think they suffer."

"Thank you", Yugi said and the headmaster closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>So the idea of this fanfic is from a story I once read. It is absolutely amazing, it isn't finished and the last time it was updated was seven years ago and yet I have my hopes it. It was that awesome! However this story has another kind of storyline.<p>

I'm dutch but I live in Sweden, just for the sake of it I read Xenophobe's Guide to the Swedes. It said and I quot: '_When two Swedish individuals meet for the first time, there are actually four people present: the two visible persons, plus their invisible alter egos who stand close by and criticize every word and every gesture. Only when the acquaintance is well established do the alter egos move to the sidelines, albeit still shaking their heads.  
>No wonder then that the Swedes seem aloof, even a little cold, at the first encounter: they are so busy arguing with their alter egos that they cannot focus properly on the company before them.<em>'

Now who doesn't think about an encounter between Ryou, the toom robber, Yugi and the Pharaoh when they read that? I found it incredibly funny!

Hope you liked it. Review!


	2. Remarkable Entrance

So, my next update. Hope you like it. Next one might be faster. We'll see.

* * *

><p>Taking the train to Hogwarts didn't really go the way Yugi had planned. He had asked Tom the barkeeper from where the Hogwarts express would be leaving and he had gotten the serious answer: "Platform nine and three quarters from King's Cross station. Everyone knows that."<p>

So now he was standing on King's Cross station at platform nine, desperately trying to find station nine and three quarters. He considered asking someone that worked there, but he was rather sure that they wouldn't know, and that he'd make a fool of himself.  
>Now he had only five minutes left before the clock turned eleven and the train left, and he hadn't a single clue where to be. He cursed silently in Japanese and kicked the barrier in between platform nine and ten. He barely kept himself from screaming as his foot went straight through.<p>

/_I think you found the way to platform nine and three quarters, Yugi_/ Atem said in a surprised tone that only he could manage. He didn't tell his lighter that he wasn't pleased with the lack of patience his _hikari_ had developed. Not that Atem wasn't use to impatient people, it just wasn't Yugi...

"I guess", Yugi whispered and looked around to make sure no one was watching before he took a step into the barrier. Very suddenly platform nine and three quarters appeared before him. He had expected to be met by the sight of a gleaming steam engine, but saw instead a scarlet dot against the still blue sky leaving a trail of smoke behind it. He couldn't believe it. He had missed the train!

"I can't believe it! I am suppose to teach! How could I miss train!" Yugi followed these words with some imaginative Japanese cursing.

He had drawn some attention to him, people had been Apparating away quickly but now the loud cracks had stopped and nearly everyone had his eyes on him. Just every now and then the sound of a crack filled the air when someone decided his arrival was non of their business and disapparated.  
>Yugi knew that he usually drew a lot of attention on himself, mostly due to his hair or the fact that he still was the reigning king of games. However about the last he shouldn't need to worry anymore, he hoped, and however weird his hair was; it wasn't weird enough to silence an entire platform. Had he done something wrong?<p>

"Sir", said a red-haired man close to where Yugi stood. He had a golden ring in one ear and his long hair in a ponytail. For some reason he sounded suspicious. "People are not suppose to be able to come through the barrier from that way after the train leaves. How..."

"Bill", an older red-haired man, no doubt family to the guy named Bill, said calming. "Teachers at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are able to come through the barrier longer if they are late. Are you a teacher?" For understandable reasons the man did not seem to believe Yugi was.

"I am suppose to be the new teacher of History of Magic but they failed to inform me how to get to platform nine and three quarters. I'm a foreigner you see", Yugi explained briefly, he was not fond of questions.

"Ah, yes, Dumbledore mentioned something about a new teacher. Between you and me, I think the school really needed a new teacher in History of Magic", the elder red-haired man said. "Perhaps my son Bill here can give you a ride to Hogsmeade, from there you can walk. It will be quite a long walk but it is not impossible."

"Dad?" Bill asked. "How am I suppose to give him a ride? I can't drive a car..." Yugi was about to say that he could when Bill carried on: "and it is not possible to reach Hogsmeade by car. The only way is the floo-network! Besides..."

Bill dragged his father further away and started to argue with him in a low voice so Yugi wouldn't hear while a big black dog strolled towards Yugi. It started to sniff at his boots, hands and legs. Then it decided it didn't like Yugi, and started growling at him.

"You don't like me do you?" he asked. Then he sighed. "Nearly no one around here does. They all sense a lot more."

/_Yugi, I'm not sure that's a dog. Don't tell him too much_/ Atem said and stared at the dog, crouching in spirit form next to him. He waved his transparent hand before the eyes of the huge black dog but it didn't react. /_That's a good thing at least. Be careful, don't reveal me to the wizarding world, I think we'd get in trouble. If the headmaster already had problems accepting me..._/

"Snuffles! Please!" another red-haired person, a woman this time, yelled. She was short and robust woman with shabby clothes that looked like they came from a second-hand shop. To be honest all the ones belonging to the family seemed to have cheap clothes. The woman was talking to the dog as if he was a person, which enlarged Atem's suspicion on 'Snuffles' not being a dog. "Can you stop being so hostile! I told you not to come! You only draw attention to yourself. First following the train! Now this?" The woman raged on a while longer, and the two men, who had stopped arguing, were waiting her out. Apparently this happened a lot. "I'm sorry", she said eventually. "Snuffles often dislikes strangers, that's why we seldom take him out. I apologize."

"No problems. I'm no fan of strangers either." Yugi didn't realize what he had said until he already had said it. "Eh, I don't mean..."

"Oh, it's okay", she said and wove it away with a little gesture of her hand. "So you're stranded then?" She sounded genuinely sorry for him, and Yugi appreciated it. In the last four years he had gotten use to falseness and such. He had always known that he had good friends, but now that they were gone he had learned exactly how extraordinary they had been.

"Yeah, it looks like it", he said and went with a hand through his hair. The short woman, equally tall as him, got a weird look on his face that made Bill burst out into laughter. "What's funny?" Yugi asked and expected a remark about his hair.

Bill laughed even harder. "Mum thinks my hair is weird, but sorry lad, you take the price. Although..." Bill took a little pause. "only if it's natural."

Yugi grinned. Yeah, of course it was a remark about his hair. "It's all natural and trust me I have seen a lot of weird hairstyles." He thought about the guard with the weird, pointy hair on Duelist Kingdom. _Really, who am I to call his hair pointy?_ Yugi thought. "Though I guess I win anyway." He didn't sound particularly happy about it but gave the others I smile. "If you'd excuse me I need to find a way to get to Hogwarts."

"Why don't you just Apparate?" Bill asked curiously. "I mean I know you can't Apparate to Hogwarts, but to Hogsmeade you can."

"I can't Apparate", Yugi said and had trouble pronouncing the word correctly. He really had to get rid of that accent if he wanted to get any respect at all. Atem's voice would be helpful did he want to indulge respect into the students.

/_Sorry, Yugi. You are the teacher_/ Atem said and grinned. He was glad that Yugi finally was socializing again with normal people, rather than with thugs in alleys.

"Don't you have an Apparation Diplome?" Bill asked.

"Eh, no. That is not really the case", Yugi said and asked Atem: /_Should I tell them?_/

_/If you were planning on telling the students there is no need to hide it from their parents, now is there? Of course, with a little bit of bad luck these people are some of these muggle-hating killers/ _

"But I just really need to get to the school", he added quickly to end the questions about Apparation.

"Use the floo-network from the Leaking Cauldron", the older man suggested. "The train will arrive around nightfall so you've got time to walk from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts if you hurry. If you're really quick you might even be able to catch the carriages."

"Thank you", Yugi said unaware that he said it in Japanese, turned on his heels and ran straight out of the barrier.

/_People could have seen that_/ Atem said dryly, but he actually didn't really care. /_Besides what is the floo-network?_/ That was something he did care about.

/_Don't know_/ Yugi answered through their mind link. /_But I bought a book named _How to Reach Your Neighbors._ It is about every possible magical way of traveling, it is just that I haven't had time to read it yet. I'll have to do that so we'll be late, but it can't be helped_/

Yugi didn't have a faultless stamina, and every now and then he stopped to catch his breathe. Eventually Atem offered to run a bit so Yugi could rest and Yugi gladly accepted. As soon as Atem had sat down at a table in the Leaky Cauldron Yugi took control again and opened his trunk punting all the books he could find on the table. He went through them casting them rather carelessly into the trunk if they weren't what he sought. Eventually only How to Reach Your Neighbors was on the table and Yugi looked at the register too find Floo-network.

Eventually he found it and started reading. /_Well, that I should be able to manage_/ he told Atem and got to his feet. "Tom, do you have some floo-powder?"

"I surely do!" he smiled and added. "Doesn't cost much at all."

* * *

><p>After the feast Dumbledore got to his feet. Severus had heard most of the speech before and did only listen to half of it. He was searching for the new History of Magic teacher Dumbledore had mentioned, the muggle. But the only new face was that of Dolores Umbridge and Severus was rather sure that Dumbledore wasn't confused enough to describe the person he had when he meant this woman. So the new History of Magic teacher was late. Why?<p>

"... that the forest in the ground is out of bounds to students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now too."

Severus couldn't help but be annoyed by the smirks the golden group shared and deep down he knew that it was just because he never himself had done that. Smirking at the headmasters comments with his friends, not even with Lily. She had sat at the other side of the room, exchanging smirks with her friends. But Severus was not willing to look within himself and admit that.  
>He rather peered out between his small eyes to take in the surrounding.<p>

"... remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch office door.

We have two changes in staffing this year."

Severus sharpened his attention, this was what he wanted to know. For some reason he had a foreboding feeling about the new History of Magic teacher despite the fact he had never met him before. There was a strange feeling of pity and compassion for the faceless stranger. Those were not two feelings Severus used to feel and he felt very uncomfortable with them. He wanted the stranger to enter and make sure that he could dislike him.

"We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We also have the pleasure to welcome Professor Muto who will be taking History of Magic from now on. He is however not present and it seems he had some trouble traveling here. Let's hope he'll arrive here soon and safely."

But nobody cared about the last sentence the headmaster spoke. A huge murmur had broken loose in the Great Hall and everyone was whispering about the unexpected change among the teachers. They all seem convinced History of Magic would become much better without Professor Binns. Severus had to admit that they were most likely correct, for once.

He raised a hand to quiet the crowd and because he was Dumbledore he succeeded. "We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher."

There was a rather dull applause and many were more interested in whether the new teacher had arrived yet, but for some reason people kept throwing glances at him. Severus was uncomfortable by the students looks and he glared back at anyone who happened to meet his gaze. It was not until Dumbledore continued about tryouts that Severus noticed that they weren't looking at him but to his right. There was an empty chair standing there, how could he not have noticed?

A "Hem, hem", from an unexpected voice penetrated his pondering. He looked at the terribly toad-like witch as if she tried to strangle herself.  
>Dumbledore looked also taken aback, but he didn't show it very long, he sat down and let her speak.<p>

Snape was not the only one who did no attempt to hide his dislike. For once he nearly felt part of the group of adults at the head-table. He even nearly felt a part of the students, who were smirking at the woman scornful.

"Thank you, headmaster", she said with such a high-pitched voice that it took Severus by surprise. He had expected something entirely different. The awfully pink woman continued: "for those kind words of welcome."

He felt a shudder of dislike go through him. This woman he could kill without needing to mentally prepare first, no matter how long he knew her.  
>He noticed that he wasn't the only one that directly disliked her. Even Potter was glaring at her with dislike.<p>

With another annoying _hem hem_ she continued and Severus wished he could turn of the terrible voice while he closed his eyes. It penetrated his mind and despite his efforts he couldn't shut it off, merciless it crept into his mind.  
>"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!"<br>Severus refused to open his eyes, he did not feel the need to see the terrible fake toad-like smile on her face that he could practically hear.

The words kept drilling into his ears. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

_Please_, Severus thought, _they are stupid morons, not five_.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we will be very good..."

As Umbridge was about to say friends and Severus about to think: _'I pity the students. I can't believe it but I do!' _one thing happened that both kept Umbridge from saying that last word and saved Severus from a personality crisis.  
>The door flew open with a mighty force and with long steps a short figure entered the Great Hall.<p>

"I am sorry, for some reason no one told me where to find platform nine and three quarters."

Severus just gaped at the short figure and he wasn't the only one. The entire student body and the staff, with exception for Dumbledore, were staring at him.  
>He had black leather pants with an iron chain going from one belt loop to another. He had a belt with a waist bag attached to it, the size of a playing cards. He had black boots with buckles and a black tank-top. His arm were bare, yet muscular, except for several bracelets; he had some chains around each arm and a thick black bracelet on one of them with rivets on. He had a little red bag in which people used to have quartz and such and a choker around his neck much like a dog collar in Severus' opinion. He had a black cape in wizard-style; the cape was the only thing about him that was anything like wizardwear. An upside down pyramid-shaped golden artifact hung from a thick chain around his neck. It was no doubt Egyptian.<br>But the most exceptional thing about him was his hair. It was jet-black, shaped like a starfish, standing up in five points; those points were tipped with a sort of purple and his fringe was blonde. His eyes were amethyst and his face sharp. His eyes had nearly a childish look over them but they were constantly narrowed due to grief and sorrow, it were those eyes that told you at once that he was too old to be a student.  
>For some reason Severus wasn't bothered by Umbridge's style anymore. This person he would have no trouble disliking, at least that was what he told himself.<p>

* * *

><p>"Is that our new History of Magic teacher?" Ron asked and as if he had heard it Dumbledore said: "Students, this is professor Muto your new History of Magic teacher. I expect you to behave on his lessons."<p>

Harry frowned at that. Why would Dumbledore ask them that? Usually he let the teachers deal with the students themselves. He exchanged a look with Hermione and it was clear she had also noticed the unusual encouragement of good behavior.

Professor Muto however swept to the empty chair next to Snape and sat down. He was looking rather curious around himself. Probably he had never seen such a school before.

To everyone's great surprise Professor Umbridge decided to carry on with her speech. "The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction..."

The further Professor Umbridge came in her speech the less Harry listened and he noticed he wasn't the only one. He did however notice that Hermione listened closely, so was the new History of Magic teacher and all the other staff members. Neither they or Professor Umbridge cared about the fact that the students had stopped listening and were talking as if it was a regular dinner.  
>Fred and George soon sat down beside them clearly not interested in Professor Umbridge.<p>

"Hello you lot, looking forward to your first History of Magic class?" Fred asked and looked mostly at Ron.

"Of course! With a teacher that looks like that, things must get more interesting!"

"I personally look more forward to History of Magic than Defense Against the Dark Arts", Harry said and threw the woman that was still rambling on a nearly disgusted look.

"Don't worry Harry", Fred said.

"If her lessons are just as terrible as her looks than we will bully her...", George continued.

"...out of school for you", Fred finished.

"That new teacher looks like he could go in our year", Ron said. "He can't have taught before. Do you think we can fool him out of giving us homework?"

Harry was grateful that Hermione still was listening careful to Professor Umbridge, he could imagine what she would have said, had she heard it.

"Wonder where he is from?" Harry asked himself and looked at the teacher.

"Why do you think he is from abroad. His English is flawless", Ron said and frowned.

"You know little brother, you should really be..." George started.

"... more attentive."

"What did I miss?" Ron asked confused. He couldn't figure out what would have given the new History of Magic teacher away.

"He didn't know where platform nine and three quarters was", Harry explained.

"Neither did you the first time", Ron said, still confused.

"Ron, twenty four hours before I for the first time set foot on the Hogwarts Express I didn't even know that I was a wizard!" Harry snapped back at his red-haired friend..

Fred put an arm around Ron's head, which Ron immediately started fighting, and said: "Don't bite little Prefect Ronnie's head off."

George laughed and added: "Only we are allowed to do that!"

"Who's given you that right?" Ron snapped at his older twin-brothers as he managed to remove Fred's arm.

"Us of course!" the pair said simultaneously.

"Well that was illuminating", Hermione said and suddenly Harry and Ron were aware that Umbridge had stopped talking, neither of the two bothered giving the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher an applause.

* * *

><p>_That was truly interesting_/ Atem said.

/_Was it?_/ Yugi wondered. /_I didn't get a lot of it. Didn't make much sense to me_/

Atem chuckled darkly. /_Since I used to be a Pharaoh I am rather use to boring speeches and know how to take the important things out of such a speech_/

Yugi smiled a bit. /_That's right. So I have an experienced politician to help me through such boring speeches, which means I don't have to listen next time. But serious now; what did she say that was important?_/

/_She said they want to improve this school. But to me it sounds like an excuse to interfere and spy on what is going on. I believe she might be going to dig around in this place, perhaps in who we are_/ Atem frowned., he didn't like the teacher in pink at all. His intuition told him not to like the toad-like woman, not to trust her the least.

/_Perhaps if we do some more reading on the current political situation we could find out what she really wants_/ Yugi suggested and looked closely at the students, they hadn't seemed to approve of the toad-like teacher either. Clearly she had broken some unwritten rule when she made her speech.

/_Sound like a good idea to me_/ Atem said. /_We have been told about the Dark Lord's return but we do not know much about the events from fourteen years ago or the Ministries role in this_/

Yugi smiled. Atem's words had given him an idea how to start the lessons on Monday.

The students were dismissed and Yugi realized that he would have to deal with the teachers first. As the students were leaving the Great Hall and while the staff left for the staff room he heard a call of: "Hey – Hey you lot! Midgets!" Followed by a loud and sharp: "Ron!"  
>Yugi couldn't help but smile at that. He might just start to like this school, not something he had counted on.<p>

As soon as the door closed behind Yugi, who was the last to enter, the noise from the Great Hall disappeared.

"Since we weren't able to take this on the train I can do it now. Let me introduce you all to Yugi Muto, the new History of Magic teacher.

"What happened to Professor Binns?" an older witch with clothes that looked like they belonged in a hospital from about a hundred years ago asked.

"Curthbert realized that he was dead", the headmaster said rather insensitive and Yugi's head snapped up.

"Excuse me?" he said with surprise and shock.

"Oh, right, I forgot you would not be use. We have a certain amount of ghosts in the school, they are all harmless. Except for Peeves, the schools poltergeist. Professor Binns never realized he was dead and kept teaching as a ghost. However this summer someone told him he was dead, which wasn't good for him."

/_Perhaps they won't mind you to much_/ Yugi remarked and Atem chuckled.

"Let me introduce you to the rest of the teachers. First there is Professor Filius Flitwick; teacher of Charms and head of Ravenclaw house. Ravenclaw prefers those sharp of mind. They are the blue and bronze house." Yugi shook hands with a man even shorter than him, which made him feel a lot better. Being unnaturally short was not such a conspicuous thing here as it was back in Domino.

"This is Professor Bathsheda Babbling, teacher of Ancient Runes. Professor Charity Burbage, teacher of Muggle Studies. Professor Sybill Trelawney, teacher of Divination."

Professor Trelawney didn't seem at ease in the room and whispered a quick "Hello" and fingered with her glasses. Then she hurried out the door towards … somewhere.

Yugi raised an eyebrow, but his feelings weren't hurt. He wasn't bothered by such anymore. However yet he was glad when the headmaster said, "She's shy."

Dumbledore continued and introduces a witch with gray flyaway hair and a patched hat. "This is Professor Pomona Sprout. Head of Hufflepuf house who teaches anyone who is willing to learn. Hufflepuff is the yellow and black house."

Yugi held out a hand but Professor Sprout apologized: "Sorry, I've already been in the greenhouse, my hands are rather filthy. Nice to meet you and welcome to Hogwarts."

"Thank you", Yugi said.

"This is Septima Vector, teacher of Arithmancy", Dumbledore continued. "This is Aurora Sinistra, teacher of Astronomy. This is Irma Pince, the librarian. Then we have Argus Filch the caretaker. Professor Rolanda Hooch, teaches flying to the first years and is Quidditch referee."

Professor Hooch had the most remarkable eyes Yugi had ever seen but when Dumbledore mentioned Quidditch he got distracted. "What is Quidditch?"

He directly noticed that he had said something odd. Everyone was gaping at him as if he had asked them how to breathe.

"Only the most globally well-known wizard sport there is", Madam Hootch said. "You're not serious right." She looked him in the eyes. Then resigned, "Yes, you are. Where are you from?"

"Japan", Yugi said quickly.

"Even there they do play Quidditch!" Madam Hootch said disbelieving.

Yugi threw the headmaster a look. Dumbledore shrugged, clearly this was up to Yugi himself.

"I guess, I don't keep track of such things at all. I've of course heard the name before but because I live in a muggle residence I don't really have track of it."

"Then I am sure you'll be interested in watching the Quidditch house cup", Dumbledore said, coming to Yugi's aid.

"I certainly will", Yugi said honestly and awaited Dumbledore to continue with introductions.

"This woman is Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge, she will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and is appointed this job by the Ministry of Magic." Professor Umbridge gave an annoying little laugh when introduced, she clearly hadn't noticed the hostility in the last part of the sentence. The other staff members weren't glad to have a Ministry pet among themselves.  
>The toad-like woman shook Yugi's hand and for some reason Yugi felt the need to wipe his hand off somewhere.<p>

"This is Professor Severus Snape, he teaches Potions and is the head of Slytherin house, a house that values cunning and greatness. Slytherin is the green and silver house." The bat-like man just gave Yugi a little nod which Yugi returned politely.

"This Poppy Pomfrey the matron and last we have Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and the head of Gryffindor house. Gryffindor prefers the students with a brave heart. It's the red and gold house. She will show you to your office and chamber, she will also show you the classroom you will be teaching in; so you can decorate it before the first lesson tomorrow 9 o'clock with the fifth years Slytherins and Gryffindors. As deputy headmistress she can help you with your schedule. I think we should all go and prepare our first classes tomorrow morning." And so they were dismissed.

The teachers all wished each other goodbye and goodnight and left the room. Professor Hootch and Professor Burbage even said goodbye to Yugi.

"Shall we be off then?" Professor McGonagall asked and walked with him towards the door. She was bearing a whole lot op different pieces of paper, no parchment, Yugi noticed. "Do you need some help with these?" he asked politely.

"Oh, yes, please. Thanks", she said grateful. "Take the bundle down to those colored pieces of parchment. Those are all yours anyway."

Yugi did as she said and with nearly half of the burden she was carrying gone, she was able to take out her wand and levitating the pieces of parchment, so she had both her hands free.

"All of these?" Yugi asked incredulous. "What are they all fore?"

"Eh, the piece of parchment on top is … we need to take this flight of stairs, watch out for the trick step … the piece on top is your schedule."

Yugi looked down at the piece of paper in front of him. The first thing he noticed was that he was free entire Wednesday morning until lunch and the second thing was that he wasn't going to teach any students above the fifth year. He asked Professor McGonagall why.

"Well, eh ..." she said not comfortable with the question. "Because this is the first year you work at Hogwarts Dumbledore didn't think you'd be fit to teach anyone above O.W.L level." The Professor went slightly red and looked straight ahead.

"He's probably right", Yugi said, more amused by the way she reacted to her own words than disturbed by what she had said.

"What?" she asked disbelieving. "Oh, I am sorry. It's just that modesty is not common among the teachers of Hogwarts. The only teacher with a bit of modesty is Professor Sprout and she has no reason to be."

Yugi laughed, amused. "It isn't just my first year at Hogwarts, it's my first year teaching at all. I am quite nervous, I must confess."

"With the entrance you just made I believe you've already won the heart of every student", Professor McGonagall said and laughed. She wasn't going to admit it but she had enjoyed the look on Umbridge's face when Yugi had walked in. "Besides was Binns well known for giving boring lessons. They are probably looking forward to it. However I do pity you."

"Why?" Yugi asked concerned and frowned.

"The first lesson you have tomorrow is 5th years Gryffindor and Slytherin. That might be the greatest challenge do you want to keep them at peace. Despite the fact that many wish for one reunited house, that has never happened because of different values. It's mostly the Slytherins against the rest, but most of all against Gryffindor. Hufflepuff welcomes anyone and is most neutral in the feuds between Gryffindor and Slytherin, however when forced to choose they tend to choose Gryffindor."

"Now that is not something I am worried about, I'll most certainly be able to keep the peace, I have no doubts. What I am worried about is that my lessons will become so boring that everyone falls asleep." Yugi got very disturbed by that thought.

/_No worries partner, with that plan of yours they will most certainly stay awake. But some of them might just try to get you expelled if what we heard from Dumbledore is correct_/

/_Thanks for the encouragement, Atem_/ Yugi thought dryly.

"Ah, we are here. The house-elves have prepared your room but you are free to decorate and change it however you like. Here take the rest of the parchments a while." Yugi did as she asked and she held out her wand towards the door. "This door is not secured. However we can put a security spell on it right now. Dumbledore told me you were a muggle so I suppose you could use some help with that."

"I could indeed. Who else knows?" he asked not pleased with the headmaster at all.

"Just me and Severus. Dumbledore also told us your friends and family were killed by a Death Eater. Some of us choose to believe that the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned and stay loyal to Dumbledore instead of believing that he is a power-hungry madman and Potter a liar. On the contrary of some who rather stick their heads in the stand and try to pull us down too."

"The Ministry of Magic?" Yugi wondered. "Is that why Professor Umbridge is here?"

"Yes, she will most likely try to make us shut up. Be careful around her. She would easily turn to the Dark Lords side if that means she could get power. She's dangerous."

Yugi nodded, he had nearly figured out that himself.

"So what about the security spell, we could make the door ask riddles, a password, you could show him something and he will open only when shown that particular thing... Name it and we will fix it."

"Alright, what about he says a word and I need to show him something depending on what word he says", Yugi suggested.

"Fine, that 'll be done quickly." First she instructed him on what to do then she said some words in Latin and walked away a few meters so she could not see what he showed the door or said. She had taken all the parchment with her.

"Jonouchi", Yugi started. _Jonouchi, _the door repeated with a monotone voice and Yugi showed him the Red Eyes Black Dragon.  
>"Kaiba", Yugi said. <em>Kaiba<em>, the door repeated and Yugi showed him the Blue Eyes White Dragon.  
>"Mana", he said for the Pharaoh's sake. It was only fair that also his friends would be part of this. The door repeated and Yugi showed him Dark Magician Girl.<p>

So he continued until he had mentioned anyone he wanted to mention and finished with: "Mahad." He showed the door the Dark Magician and yelled at Professor McGonagall that he was done. McGonagall touched the door with her wand and gestured him to open.

"Otogi", the door said and McGonagall watched curious as Yugi showed the door Oregoth the Relentless.

The door opened and Yugi walked in followed by McGonagall who was still carrying all the papers. The room was huge; to the right there was a simple fourposter bed with red curtains next to the only window. Beside the bed his luggage awaited. An empty oak desk with a matching chair was standing against the wall and there was a huge fireplace at the other side of the room. The interior all by all was rather dark.  
>In the middle of the room a huge chandelier hung down with lit candles.<br>At the left to the door there was a huge round table also in dark oak. Around twelve chairs stood there. The table was placed on a dark red carpet. The floor and walls were also dark wood. It wasn't directly to either Yugi's or Atem's taste.

"The room is under a spell. You can by imagination change the interior, I do not know to what extend, I suppose you can try that out by yourself. The same counts for the office that lies there", Professor McGonagall said and pointed towards a door to the left behind the round table opposite of the window.

They walked through it. In compare to his room his office was rather small. There was a huge window to his right and the desk, a larger one here, was put so that he was with his back towards the window if he sat down behind it. The walls and floor were equally dark and completely undecorated. That added up with the rain that came down from the sky made the office look depressing.

"This door has the same password, or whatever, as the one you just created earlier. The door to the left of you leads to the same hallway as we came from. You just passed it. The door in front of you leads to the classroom."

Yugi nodded and walked to check out the classroom. It was just as big as his own room, which was huge for a classroom. The door through which he entered was a little to the left of the desk that was direct in front of the blackboard. The floor where the desk stood was about half a foot higher than the rest of the class. Even here the interior was dark but at least one of the sides was covered with windows. The benches stood in ordinary rows and there were way more of them than necessary.

McGonagall put the many pieces of Parchment down on the table. "Let's go through these", she suggested. "We'll do it quick so you can adjust the classroom and everything else. On top is your schedule. Underneath is a calender for you to put things in, everything from homework to detention and staff meetings. Some things have already been inserted; like the days we leave for Hogsmeade and such. The present-lists are the colored ones at the bottom. They've been put together two and two for every house present at a class, they are already in order. Somewhere there is a bundle with school rules, there is a map and a whole lot more. Just look through it. I assume you have an owl?"

"No", Yugi said. "I've got no one to correspond with."

"What about ho..." Professor McGonagall wished she could swallow those words.

"I've got no home anymore to correspond with. I'll be fine. I see you tomorrow at breakfast I suppose."

Professor McGonagall was so clearly dismissed that she simply nodded and left. She had already taken a liking to the new History of Magic teacher and hoped he'd survive the storm that was approaching.

"So", Yugi told Atem out loud. "Time to work. Let's make sure the students think they've taken a wrong turn tomorrow morning."

/_It will be fun_/ Atem said and together they started to try out the room with the spell.

* * *

><p>"Hi", Harry said moving towards his own trunk.<p>

"Hey, Harry", Dean said who was putting on his pajamas. "That new teacher, you know. I have the feeling I am supposed to recognize him, as if he's well known, but I just can't put my finger on it. It feels as if you've just watched a movie with a famous actor but you can't figure out where you've seen him before or what his name is. You know the feeling?"

Harry nodded, he had it a lot, but not due to movies though.

"Be sure to tell me if you figure it out", Harry said. "However I have a hard time imagining that you could forget about that guy if you'd seen him before."

Dean chuckled. "I know! That is what bothers me most! So you had a good holiday?"

"Not bad", he muttered disappointed that the mystery around the new History of Magic teacher wasn't solved. However he was sure that Dumbledore had done a thorough research about him before hiring him. He didn't want another Death Eater in disguise running around in the castle. "You?" he asked Dean.

"Yeah, it was okay. Better than Seamus's anyway, he was just telling me."

"Why, what happened, Seamus?" Neville asked genuinely concerned.

It took Seamus a while before he answered but when he did and Harry found out the entire story, he felt like hitting something, or even someone.  
>Deep down he knew that if he just had answered their questions that they probably would have believed him but he couldn't find the patience.<p>

_They'll know we're right in the end_, Harry thought exhausted. He just hoped that they would realize it soon.

* * *

><p>So I hope there will be just as many people who will read this and the following chapters as the previous. I just hope more people review.<br>Right now I'm on a really boring vacation and I do nothing else but writing. I'm now on chapter 4 but once I get home I'll have to catch up on the schoolwork I missed and the uppdates might (will) take longer. Sorry :'(

Review Please!


	3. First Class

Professor Mcgonagall was handing out schedules. Harry was eying the staff table while Ron and Hermione were quarreling over the Daily Prophet. No Hagrid, but a smiling Umbridge who was playing with her food as if it was repulsing.  
>Dumbledore was as always watching the students, but this time he wasn't the only one, Professor Muto was also watching them, with amusement on his face. Every now and then his gaze spaced out as if he was in very deep thoughts. It looked a bit weird but Harry had no doubt that he was attentive.<p>

A sudden "Yes!" from Ron made Harry look away from the staff table. "What is it?" he asked.

"We've got History of Magic first class today!" he said overly pleased.

"I never thought you'd say that", Hermione said amused and sat with a hand in her bushy hair.

"Do mine ears deceive me?" Fred said and squeezed himself down on the bench with George beside Harry. "Now that he has become a prefect he suddenly starts to like all the boring subjects. Look at your Monday!" He was hovering over Harry's schedule "It is the worst I've ever seen! History of Magic, however that can only have become better now, double Potions, Divination..." Hermione wrinkled her nose at that class but everyone ignored her. "and double Defense Against the Dark Arts. I don't believe that Umbridge woman will be much to celebrate."

"Of course not", Hermione said and shot Umbridge a poisonous look. "She is just here to keep us quiet on order of the Ministry."

"Well you don't know that", Ron protested, but Harry thought Ron was being way to positive about Professor Umbridge.

"Keep the hope on Professor Muto and don't wast any on that pink toad, she's a lost case anyway", George suggested.

They kept talking about different thing, mostly Fred and George trying to scare them for their new year, their O.W.L year. Then it came to Fred and George's future plans and Harry pretend to drop his knife so no one would see how red he turned when Hermione asked where they'd get the money from. In fact it was Harry who had given them the money he had won the previous year.  
>But Ron was oblivious to all and was unable to sit in his seat, when the clock turned 8.50 he called out: "Time to go to class!"<p>

"I wish he always was this enthusiastic", Harry muttered.

"I don't!" Hermione said, sounding horrified. "Just think about it, Ron, like this all the time. It'd be terrible."

On second thought Harry had to agree with Hermione.

To their great surprise everyone was already there, including the Slytherins who didn't often bother coming early. It was simply odd.

Everyone jumped when at exactly nine o'clock the two huge black doors swung outwards and the short Professor Muto stood in the door opening smiling at them in a rather friendly looking way. Not at all like the little laugh Umbridge always carried.

"Come in", he said warmly, turned his back towards them and walked towards his desk.

They all stood and hesitated in the hallway. To everyone's surprise it were Parvati and Lavender who were the first to enter and their surprised gasp persuaded the others to enter too.  
>They all grasped for breath when they saw the room, it was entirely different from what it once had been.<br>The benches weren't standing in rows like they usually did but in V format; like a group of birds heading out the door. The formation created a lot of room in the center of the classroom and with one gaze Professor Muto could see what each one of them was doing when sitting at his desk.

Right then he was leaning against it with his hand beside him on the desk. He was wearing the same tank-top as the day before but had gotten rid of the bracelets. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue jacket in the same colour. He still had his choker, the up and down pyramid, the little red bag, the belts and buckled boots. Once again Harry was amazed by the triple-colored hair, Professor Muto had to be a Metamorphmagus.  
>However it weren't the formation of the benches nor the Professors hair that caught everyone's eyes. It was the way the room was decorated. The floor had turned into a lot lighter kind of wood, it wasn't nearly white but just as light. The walls were nearly gold of color, like the sands of the Egyptian desert the way he had seen it on pictures. And perhaps that was exactly what it was meant to resemble because at the wall where the blackboard hung there were stones with pictures and hieroglyphs carved into them. It was rather amazing.<p>

"Hermione, what do they say?" he asked the clever girl.

She shrugged "I don't know, I am too far away to tell."

"I believe we might have taken a wrong turn", Crabbe said to no one in particular.

"I like to hear that", Professor Muto said out loud and the whispers went silent immediately. "It means I have achieved my goal. Please all take a seat so we can get started.

Harry could notice that Professor Muto was observing the group carefully as they sat down. Then he smirked. "Alright, I've got your names here. I am going to call them out loud, I want you to give a sign of your presence when I do so. Alright. Brown, Lavender?"

"Here!" she called out eager to get this over with and start class.

"Finnigan, Seamus?" and so Professor Muto swiftly worked down the entire Gryffindor list then he went on to the Slytherins. "Bulstrode, Millicent?"

"Present", she muttered and started to write figures on her bench with her fingers.

When Professor Muto was done he looked at them with a bothered smile on his face. "United you were suppose to stand, however I can tell simply from the way you are sitting that you aren't!"

For some reason everyone was looking at Hemione, even the Slytherins, and as the benches were standing that was more than obvious. "How am I supposed to know what that means?" she protested nearly shyly.

Professor Muto chuckled. "I'll explain. The human mind is created so that we automatically make ourselves part of a group, so we feel safe, however it is often this instinct that keeps people from becoming one united front, because they are unable to go outside that group. Right now this room is divided in five different groups and in one of them I stand alone. Rather depressing if you look at it like that. Let me explain it more thoroughly. I could draw a line right now so you can see what I mean."

And just as Professor Muto said it a dark blue line appeared, no not one, three Harry noticed. Everyone was leaning over their benches to watch them appear.

"What are they good for?" Malfoy asked with a touch of annoyance in his voice to mask the uncertainty.

"They point out the flaws of the human mind. Look at how you are sitting. I can read your personal relationship to each other but it is most clearly that Gryffindor and Slytherin stand divided, why else would each house have chosen a different side of the classroom. Then there is the fact that the boys sit gathered and the girls sit gathered at both rows. This is what I call divided."

Everyone was gaping at him like fish but Harry could not deny the fact that what he said was true.

"Let's try something. I want you, miss Granger to swap places with miss Parkinson. You, mister Thomas can swap places with miss Greengrass and you miss Brown can swap places with mister Zabini."

They all kept staring at him as if he had spoken a foreign language.

"Was I unclear? Come on", he persuaded.

Harry was at least glad that he could remain on his place but he felt sorry for Hermione who was now sitting in between Malfoy and Millicent. He, Harry, and Parvati sat now next to Pansy Parkinson. Daphne Greengrass sat now in between Seamus and Neville while Dean now sat in between Tracey Davis and Millicent Bulstrode.

"It would have brought me joy had you only been united in such a way that you would not find this strange and uncomfortable", Professor Muto said. "Alright, before I tell you this years course aims you'll have to do a task for me. You will all make an oral presentation from different subjects of history. It doesn't need to be long or all too detailed but teach me how your history looks like. The English history of magic."

He picked one of the many pieces of parchment, which looked rather forlorn on his deck.

"Good, miss Granger you will take the 90s. Which includes the current status of the Wizarding World. Be as honest as you deem possible."

Harry found that a rather weird task and he wondered how much Professor Muto knew about the subject he was about to teach. Was he a fake, like Lockhart? He hoped not.

"Mister Potter you will be taking the 80s. Mister Nott the 70s . Mister Zabini the 60s. Mister Goyle the 50s and since mister Thomas and miss Davis seem to have become such good acquaintances they can take the 40s together."

Malfoy looked horrified and Harry was well aware why. Dean was muggle-born, at least Dean thought so, and Malfoy would never approve of someone of his house working with a muggle-born but for some reason neither Tracey or Dean seemed to mind. Harry was not sure whether he found Dean a betrayer or very brave for trying to make conversation with a Slytherin. He decided to go for the latter and take a positive point of view on it.

Professor Muto kept distributing years and when everyone had himself a year Professor Muto said. "Go sit where you want to sit. It's really not my business anyway. Everyone returned to their original places, except for Dean who told Daphne that he'd like to be where he was. Daphne was forced to sit in the one remaining free bench in their row, closest to the door next to Blaise Zabini. Not one of the Slytherins was very pleased with Dean's refusal to go back to the Gryffindor row.

"The oral presentation will be done on Thursday. Any questions?"

Nearly all hand shot up in the air.

The Professor laughed and said: "Any questions regarding the task I gave you?"

"Why do you want us to do this? As a teacher you must have heard all this a hundred times and besides, isn't it up to you to teach us what happened?" Malfoy complained.

"I do not know much about English history of magic. I'm not from here and though I am interested we will not cover that subject in my class this year. So I'll leave you to teach me and the others, it is also a good opportunity for me to see what you all go for."

"Professor where are you from?" Lavender asked curiously.

"Partly from Japan, partly from Egypt."

"Is that why this room is so terribly gold-colored?" Malfoy asked scornful.

"Perhaps mister Malfoy. However that is not gold-colored, gold is darker. It's yellow and it has been proven that people have easier to learn in a yellow room or surrounded by yellow colors. Would you prefer to work in this kind of room?" As Professor Muto asked it Harry looked around himself. The walls turned a dark red and heavy black curtains covered the windows. Their benches had been a color somewhere between the color of the wall and the floor but now they were a dark brown that made them look much heavier.

"I'm a Slytherin, I prefer green and silver", Malfoy said and pretended to be unaffected by the fact that Professor Muto had changed the entire room without even using his wand.

"Do you have animals at your home, mister Malfoy?"

"Peacocks, why?" Malfoy asked confused and glared at everyone that laughed. He even hit Crabbe on the back of his head.

"Animals like cows give better milk if they stand in a green stable, which is rather natural", Professor Muto said with a mischievous smile.

"When was that proven, I've never heard about it", Parvati asked. She wasn't doubtful, simply curious. Not that Parvati ever doubted such things, she even believed Professor Trelawny.

"It's a muggle study. Rather useful, many muggle schools painted their classrooms yellow."

"Beh, it can't be correct if it is a muggle study", Crabbe claimed.

"Why not?" Professor Muto asked and had a little smile on his face that made Harry feel as if he had missed a joke.

"Well..." Crabbe said, clearly feeling cornered.

Goyle came to his aid: "They are muggles, they can't do anything good. All they ever do turns out a failure. They are failures!"

"Exactly!" Crabbe said and threw Goyle a grateful look.

"Ever met one?" Professor Muto asked. He was clearly amused, yet bothered.

"Of course not! I don't sink to that level!" Goyle protested.

"There are loads of fine humans among muggles!" Hermione proclaimed fiercely. "There are also loads of people you don't want to get to know! Just like among wizards."

"Shut up, mudblood!" Malfoy barked.

"Hey!" Professor Muto called out, all amusement gone from his face. "By all means, discuss your opinions but do not insulted each other! Any of you that will prevent someone from saying what they think can stay after class!"

"Hermione is right", Dean said and Harry found it rather odd to see him sitting among the Slytherins. "There are many good people among muggles. The only reason why you would think they are less than yourself is if you've never been in their company. They are just regular people like ourselves. Muggles are not inferior to wizards and wizards aren't inferior to muggles."

"For your information I can say that all of you have been in the presence of a muggle. I have no doubt", Professor Muto proclaimed and got a mischievous smile on his face.

"How can you know that?" Malfoy asked condescending. "I'm sure I've never been in the presence of a muggle."

"Oh, yes you have. You have even talked to him, listened to him, obeyed him."

It dawned on Hermione first. "No way!" she exclaimed with a voice somewhere between excited and worriedThen Harry realized it too and he gaped at Professor Muto, who was grinning.

"What?" Ron asked and couldn't figure out why half of the class was staring at the Professor as if he just had confessed he was responsible for the creation of the giants. Crabbe, Goyle, Lavender, Millicent and Pansy had the same problem. "What?" they all asked their neighbors.

"Ron", Harry said. "I believe that Professor Muto is a muggle."

"What?" Ron asked incredulous but Harry ignored him and had his entire attention focused on the Professor.

"As most of you already have figured out I am a muggle by your standards. I do not own a wand and I have no desire to have one either. I've got what I need and don't fool yourselves elieving I'm powerless."

"This is despicable!"Malfoy cried out. "How could Dumbledore sink to such a low level! My father will hear about this! He'll get both you and Dumbledore out of this rotten place!"

Harry had expected Professor Muto to become angry but he remained calm. "Draco Malfoy." The named one was glaring at the short Professor in front of him. "I'd like to meet your father, however not yet. It'd be too early, much too early." It was as if Professor Muto had forgotten about them for a while. He was staring at the floor and when he looked up he had a glimmer in his eyes that Harry found unnerving. "I am a teacher and I will be treated with the same respect as one. Class dismissed, do not forget about the oral presentation!"

They all left the room with different mixtures of feelings. Harry himself was both looking forward to the next lesson, despite the oral presentation, but he was also worried about the new Professor. Last year people had gone missing and were killed by Lord Voldemort. Harry was sure that Professor Muto would also end up on the lists of targets if Lucius Malfoy came to know about him.

As if Ron had read Harry's thoughts he asked: "Why do you think Professor Muto would like to meet Lucius Malfoy?"

Harry had no time to answer before they were attacked by Ron's elder brothers.

"And what was he like?" George asked nearly jumping up and down with curiosity.

"Absolutely unexpected. You'll see what I mean", Ron said. "When do you have him?"

"We don't", Fred said disappointed. "He doesn't teach students that have passed their O.."

"Then let me tell you about him", Ron said with a smile. "He changed the entire classroom into some gold yellowish color and you know what..."

"Hey, Harry", George said, interrupting his brother. "Where is Hermione?"

* * *

><p>_I'm proud of you, partner?_/ Atem said sitting in spirit form on the chair behind the desk. /_You did a great job with these students and you treated young Malfoy just like any other student_/

/_Do you think these values are his, or his fathers?_/ Yugi wondered.

/_I don't know, however we are not alone yet. Look up_/

Yugi did as Atem suggested and looked up. Hermione Granger was still standing in the classroom.

"Miss Granger?" Yugi asked. "Something wrong?"

"No not at all", she said quickly. "I was just wondering if I … could have a look at the hieroglyphs on the wall."

"Can you read them?" Yugi asked surprised. Had he known that someone was able to read them he might not have put them up there. At least he had been smart enough not to put his duplicate of The Tablet of Lost Memories in the classroom. Atem on the tablet looked simply a bit too much alike him for the students not to notice, especially not if they wanted to have a closer look at it.

"I study Ancient Runes and they have taken up the subject of hieroglyphs once and I got interested. But still only a bit, they are complicated. Can you?"

"Yes, something like that. Come have a look if you'd like." Yugi sat down and watched the brown-haired girl as she studied the first thing on the wall.

"This is from the Pert Em Hiru, isn't it?" she asked and referred to a piece of parchment magically attached to the wall.

"Very good miss Granger. It is indeed. Can you tell what this scene shows?" Yugi asked, eager to find out the lengths of her knowledge.

"No, I've never seen it before. What does it show?" she asked with a frown.

"The creation of seven items to punish tomb robbers. That's what the story tells anyway. Although these items exist it is not because of that they were formed." Yugi said and frowned. Atem had always been reluctant to tell him exactly how they were forged.

"Then why were they created?" Hermione asked curious.

"Once Egypt was under attack by an enemy so great that everyone thought it was lost. However the brother of the ruling Pharaoh, Akhnaden, found a way to beat them with an army of seven. He preformed a spell that forged seven items that possessed great power, a very dark power. The enemy was defeated but the spell that was preformed had a nasty side effect. It resurrected Zorc, a demon from eons before the creation of these items. He tried to kill everyone who had helped in creating the seven items, beginning with the brother of the Pharaoh, but he gauged out one eye and used the Millenium Eye to repel Zorc, sealing him in the stone which created the items. On their way home every soldier died, the story doesn't say why, but only the Pharaoh's brother survived."

Hermione Granger was listening fascinated.

"The nephew of the man who created the items, was Pharaoh at the moment Zorc decided to make his move; he was about to destroy the entire world. The Pharaoh locked Zorc away in the tablet where he first came from and the Pharaoh's soul got sealed in one of these seven items, a pendant, it was the sacrifice he had to make to free his country from the Shadows. He wiped his memory blank and entrusted a family of tomb-keepers to guard it for him so he, and only he, would be able to retrieve it when he needed it again. He also gave order of wiping his name from history. His name, which was the only thing that could free the demon again. "

"Wow", Hermione said. "That's fascinating."

"I know. Shall I continue?" Yugi asked, well aware what she was going to answer.

"Yes, please!" she said eager. Then, slightly blushing: "If that's okay."

Yugi laughed. "Sure. When the pharaoh's memory and the pharaoh's soul got locked away the pendant shattered, making it a puzzle. It seemed like little else than a very sad ending. But Zorc had a priest, a dark priest called Zorc Necrophades who locked his own soul in a different one of the seven items, to awake again when the Pharaoh's soul returned. The pharaoh's soul would return the moment the puzzle was solved. And when the puzzle was solved a complicated game started. The pharaoh did not recall who he was or why he existed like he did, a mere restless spirit. The dark priest at the other hand manipulated everything in order to once again resurrect the demon Zorc."

"Did he succeed?" Hermione asked.

"Yes and no. Zorc was ressurected, but not quite in a way that the dark priest had anticipated. Because the dark priest could not find the Pharaoh's name he used the locked away memories of the pharaoh to create a very dangerous game. And he lost this game. Zorc was resurrected, but he was defeated with the help of the people who had gotten to know the Pharaoh after he returned to this world. They altered the past and the Pharaoh's soul was no longer trapped in the puzzle and he regained his memories, while both Zorc and his priest were gone forever."

"Poor guy", Hermione said. "Brave though."

Yugi smiled and glanced at Atem was standing next to the chair, invisible to the student. He smiled a bit.

"How do these powers work?" she wondered.

"How would I know?" Yugi asked making it sound as if he didn't. He did, he just didn't want to tell her.

She moved on to the next thing on the wall. "I can read this, a bit." She said and pointed towards a duplicate of a stone.

"Let's see. This means Pharaoh and that six ... eh, priest … death?" she wondered. "Hm, evil. Sacred … door … pray … evil … Pharaoh. This is way to hard for me. What does it say?"

"The young Pharaoh and the six upper priests gave their lives to seal a great evil behind the sacred door. I pray that this evil will not be revived with the Pharaoh's memory", Yugi said. "This is about the same Pharaoh as I told you about. Everyone rather wanted him to be without memory and be free from Zorc than that he regained them and risk Zorc destroying the world again. Despite that, not all of the six priests died, one survived and he took command over the armies when the others had fallen but he survived until the Pharaoh was able to seal Zorc. Though his beloved died in that fight when she saved his life. After the young nameless Pharaoh sealed himself he became ruler of Egypt. He was the Pharaoh's cousin after all. It is written that he became a very good Pharaoh. The sixth person who died had been priest, once, he wasn't anymore at that point."

"Wow, how amazing. How long ago was that?" Hermione asked fascinated.

"Five thousand years ago. However miss Granger, if I was to tell you the entire story until you got it we'd be here the rest of the day and I still have a class to teach while you, I'm sure, still have a class to attend to."

Yugi couldn't hide a smile when he saw her shocked face. "Oh no, I've got to go! See you Thursday professor!"

The brown-haired student ran out the black double doors. With a glance at the clock Yugi could see that his next class was about to start within ten minutes so he hurried to get the things he needed ready while Atem was watching him silently.

Eventually he chose to say something. /_Why did you tell her so much?_/

"She asked and I wasn't going to lie to her", Yugi said simply. "She has no idea that it is true."

/_This is a world in which the government acknowledges the use of magic. She just might_/ Atem said. /_If the powers of the Shadows fall into the wrong hands … you know what happened with Bakura!_/

/_You're right. Of course you are. We shouldn't risk the control we have over the Shadows by telling people about the Millennium Items. It's just that..._/ Yugi wasn't sure whether he wanted to tell the Pharaoh or not.

/_What Yugi?_/ Atem asked softly. It was a tone he only ever used to Yugi.

/_You remember that Ishizu told us that your window of opportunity would close if we didn't hurry?_/

Atem nodded. /_I do_/ Patiently he waited for Yugi to continue.

/_It's just that … well … What if you are forced to stay within the puzzle forever without anyone __knowing you are there? I just want someone to know about the sacrifice you made for saving Egypt. I mean now that you are stuck … What if I die? What happens to you then? Will you go back to the puzzle? I just want someone to think about you sometimes, when I can't anymore_/ Yugi cast his eyes down. He was somewhat ashamed over admitting that.

It wasn't something that happened often but Atem was touched. /_Yugi_/ he said lowly and stood up. He placed a hand on his friends shoulder as he always did when Yugi was sad. /_Thank you_/ He gave his surprised host a hug.

"You never hug", Yugi said sounding rather incredulous.

/_I have learned that it's a common way to show brotherly affection in this time and right now if felt appropriate_/ Atem was completely serious when he said that and it made Yugi laugh. _/Did_ _I say something wrong?_/ Atem asked tentative.

/_No, you said something exactly right_/ Yugi laughed and let go of Atem. He looked at his schedule and saw that the next class were fourth year Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

/_You know partner, I like this castle_/

Yugi was slightly taken aback by that unexpected comment. /_Why?_/

/_You never smiled before you came here_/

* * *

><p>"Before we begin today's lesson", Snape said, as he stared around at all of them; for a moment he seemed surprised. "Where is miss Granger?"<p>

At that exact moment Hermione came storming in the classroom.

"Ten points from Gryffindor miss Granger. I hope you had no intention of repeating this, I will not allow late comers in my class."

"She will have some explaining to do", Ron whispered to Harry.

Later in the Great hall Harry had already started his lunch when the others arrived.

"That was really unfair", Hermione said consolingly. "Your potion wasn't nearly as bad as Goyle's, when he put in..."

"No way, Hermione", Ron said. "You are going to tell us why you are late. You are never late!"

Hermione went red and looked down.

"Tell us Hermione", Ron pressed on.

Hermione helped herself to some food and fingered a bit with her knife before she said: "You remember those hieroglyphs Professor Muto had on the wall. I stayed to ask him what they read. He told me what they read and the myth behind them. It's a really sad story."

"_Anything _is good enough to skip potions for", Ron remarked.

"I mean it!" Hermione said angered. "But it's very complicated. I don't get it entirely yet. It is as if he knew too much details to actually be able to tell it but wanted to pretend he simply had once heard it been told."

"Tell us", Harry said, his curiosity awoken.

And that was what Hermione did the rest of the lunch break. She told them about the page from the Pert Em Hiru, about the creature called Zorc, about the young Pharaoh and the items. Everything.

"Still I can't believe that you skipped class for that", Ron said skeptical.

Hermione blushed again. "I had no intentions of skipping class, but something is off with the new Professor. He sounded so sad when he told that story and he described as if he had been there when everything happened."

Ron took a large bite and frowned. He shook his head and swallowed. "You don't actually think he has something to do with that myth. I mean it can't be true, can it? Was it true I'm sure I would have heard something from Bill, he was in Egypt before he came back home. Anyway how is it possible that there is a legend you don't know?"

Harry chuckled. That was the first thing that had crossed his mind too.

"I know a lot, not everything", she said as if it was obvious, which it kinda was. "Well I know something is off about him and I intend to find out what. Right now the only clue I've got is that he knew a story that is unknown in the wizarding world."

"Perhaps that is because he's a muggle", Ron suggested.

"Even then I'd known it", Hermione snapped at him. "I'm muggleborn!"  
>She took a piece of blank paper and started scribbling on it fast. The ink splattered all over the table when Hermione in her eagerness wanted to start a new sentence. She didn't bother about it but simply dipped her feather in the ink on the wooden table.<p>

"What are you doing?" Harry asked and when he realized how stupid it sounded he added: "Who are you writing too?"

"Bill", she said loudly and kept writing frantic.

"Bill?" Ron and Harry asked simultaneously.

"Yes of course! Who else am I supposed to ask about an ancient Egyptian legend?" Hermione said, clearly pissed.

Neither Harry or Ron could give a decent answer to that.

* * *

><p>It was a pain to write Yugi's conversation with Hermione. I hope it was good enough. I know the story which makes it a whole lot more understandable to me than to Hermione.<p>

This is the last day of the vacation and I have a week worth of schoolwork to catch up on so I have no idea when I'll update again. I hope before or during the coming weekend. Next chapter will contain another cannon figure.

Review please.


	4. New Ravenclaw

So I'm not going to write down all the important cannon things, like Umbridge's terrible ways of giving detention and her bitchy attitude. I hate quoting from the book that is laying next to my computer right now, so I wont. If you want to get the story you'll need to have read the book.'

I got a comment that kindly pointed out that all punctuation marks are supposed to be inside quotation marks. I got the very same comment on my previous story and I'll explain why is still put my commas outside the quotation marks. In Swedish grammar you are suppose to put the comma outside the quotation marks. However question marks, exclamation marks, etc…, are suppose to be inside the quotation marks.  
>This is Swedish grammar and I'm going to stick to it; if I didn't I would most likely start doing the very same thing on my essays and that would be no good for my grades. I go ninth year; everything is about grades, grades and more grades!<br>The very same person pointed out that I didn't use semicolons. You don't use them in Swedish grammar at all. Above I did a somewhat pathetic attempt to use them; and I will continue making attempts to use them. However if I – hm, how to put this? – screw up and make the sentence seem rather awkward; you can kindly point that out.  
>I don't have a Beta and I am not going to get myself one for different reasons.<p>

Here's the new chapter, Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Tuesday morning Yugi awoke in his four-poster; that now had light purple curtains instead of the heavy dark red ones. He opened them and looked at the room which he had changed the previous night; the walls were now a light colored wood and the floor was a light gray stone. The carpets on the floor were the same color purple as the curtains of his bed. The ceiling was the same gold-yellow as the walls of the classroom and . On the walls hung different stones with hieroglyphs and things alike; among them the Tablet of Lost memories. He also had pictures of his friends above the small desk. The room was far from finished, but it looked a lot better.<p>

He got dressed and considered for a moment to take the black robes he had bought in Diagon Alley, but decided not to; they looked simply annoying. He couldn't understand how the students could write with sleeves like that, especially since they were writing with ink.  
>He took his regular blue jeans and his black tank-top adding the regular choker and of course the puzzle. The red bag was already around his neck, he never took it off.<p>

He made his way to breakfast and was slightly amused about the fact that people still were throwing him confused and curious glances. He greeted the other members of the staff that were already there as he sat down. Snape, to Yugi's left, just looked up at his polite, "Good morning."  
>Madam Hooch at his right greeted him warmly; Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout greeted him cheerfully too.<p>

Yugi was absolutely a coffee person, he was not the person that needed the entire morning to wake, but he always appreciated the help caffeine gave him. Especially when he needed to start the morning with a class of fifth years. The Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws.

"Some tea?" Madam Hooch offered.

"Er … Do you have coffee?" Yugi asked with a frown.

Madam Hooch laughed. "That makes one more. Usually it is only me who ever drinks coffee. It's rather appreciated that the house elves don't need to make it for only my sake anymore."

Yugi laughed. "Glad I could help."

"So how is teaching coming along?" she asked and for some reason hadn't the feeling that she tried to small talk, but was genuinely interested.

"Quite well, a lot better than expected. The students here are a lot easier to deal with than the students back home used to be, at least I think so, it's been a while since I was home."

"I have a hard time believing the students are easier. Tomorrow morning I'm going to have the first years, teaching them to fly. That's mostly the most terrible class of the year."

"I had the first year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors after lunch yesterday. It was quite okay."

"You might have frightened the first years into order", Madam Hooch laughed. Then serious: "You are intimidating."

"I really hope that is not the reason they listened", Yugi said disturbed at the thought. "I don't believe that is the best way to teach."

"It seems to work for some teachers", Professor Sprout said leaning forward past Professor Snape; she took the plate with toast.

"I hope you are aware that I am sitting right here?" Professor Snape asked the Herbiology teacher.

"Yes, of course I am. But because everyone knows it, there is no reason not to tell Yugi." Professor Sprout placed several slices of toast on her plate and smiled at Yugi who was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"There really was no reason to tell me either", he murmured and didn't intend for anyone to hear, but from the surprised look he got from Snape it was clear he had.

* * *

><p>Ginny was like every other student looking forward to the first History of Magic lesson, but she couldn't understand how the absolute unrealistic rumors about Professor Muto had come to exist. The stories had often not been to the teachers advantage, for some reason the younger students had decided to smear him.<p>

She had heard from Hermione though that it had been a rather educative lesson, and that it had been all but boring. When the older student had heard about the rumors that had gotten hold among the students overnight Hermione had been bothered for a moment, but to Ginny's great surprise she had started to laugh when she heard how the rumors went.

"Well, Ginny", she had said while knitting something Ginny couldn't identify. "I have a hard time believing that Professor Muto slaughtered a bunch of Unicorns, neither do I believe he helped a group of vampires, and I absolutely don't believe he was a Death Eater; I also doubt that he cursed Dumbledore into allowing him to teach in this school. It's not possible."

"Why are you so certain about that? I mean he seems a bit young to have been a Death Eater but why would the rest be impossible? Not that I expect Dumbledore to be tricked so easily..." Ginny stopped there and awaited the answer.

"It isn't possible because Professor Muto is a muggle", Hermione said and smiled at Ginny's shocked expression.

"A mu...!" Ginny's surprised cry was prevented by Hermione who quickly put a hand over Ginny's mouth.

"Yes! He'll tell you all tomorrow. Don't ruin the surprise."

So with that forewarning she was waiting outside the classroom to History of Magic when the doors swung open.

* * *

><p>It never seized to be fun. The surprised faces of the students when they entered the classroom for the first time were little rewards for his efforts. This class was no exception; they were whispering comments to each other, not seeming comfortable with talking at all.<p>

"Please sit down so we can start", he demanded and they all obeyed rather quickly. These were the fourth years Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, he had been told that it was a rather easy class to teach; now he was about to find out whether that was true or not.  
>"Welcome to History of Magic. I am Yugi Muto, and will be teaching this class. I have heard about the most ridiculous rumors going around about me, luckily not just about me and I assume it is tradition here to smear the teachers. However I'll end the current ones about me and start some new ones by telling you this: I couldn't have cursed the headmaster or anything else because I am a muggle."<p>

Yugi, personally, was rather satisfied with the first admonition he had given the students, they had been looking ashamed; at least until the point he told them he was a muggle. Suddenly an incredible amount of whispers burst out.

"Silence, please!" he demanded calmly and the students obeyed. "The course aim's of this class until Christmas break will be..."  
>Yugi took a bit of chalk and wrote on the blackboard.<p>

_Learn about several events in history that occurred because of either prejudice, fear or feelings of superiority._

_How to learn from these events._

_How to prevent these kind of things from happening again._

Yugi read it out loud to the students what he had written and added, "We will be starting with the inquisitions of the Roman Catholic Church. Those inquisitions were designed to stop and prevent heresy. It is also known as the 'Fight Against Heretics'. A heretic was someone with a different religion, something the Catholics didn't approve off."

"Isn't that Muggle history?" a Ravenclaw asked disbelieving.

"Yes, very good mr …?"

"Alan Wreke, Professor", the blonde Ravenclaw said.

"Well, mr Wreke, it is indeed not wizard history. They have never had religious problems, which they should be glad about."

Several laughs went through the room, but they were tense. They didn't know how the new teacher would react to Alan Wreke's questioning.

"But if this is History of Magic, then why are we learning muggle history? Not that I mind, just curious. I thought we had Muggle Studies for that", Wreke added carefully.

"In Muggle Studies you learn how Muggle's live so you can blend in if necessary. But never you learn about their history, and to achieve what people want to achieve when teaching history is easier for me if I teach you Muggle History", Yugi said with a smile, he didn't mind explaining the reasons for why he had chosen to teach what he was about to teach.

"What do people who teach history want to achieve, Professor?" a red-haired Gryffindor girl asked.

"What is your name?" Yugi asked and was rather sure it would end with Weasley.

"Ginny Weasley, sir", the Gryffindor said.

"Miss Weasley, you all, listen carefully. Teaching someone dates, names and places is both very boring and completely useless. I am sure that if I taught you that Millicent Bagnold was Minister of Magic from 1980 to 1990 you would have forgotten by Christmas, most likely earlier, despite the fact that it's true. However, if I told you that she committed suicide and killed her entire family after she made a wrong decision that killed the entire wizard community of Tibet, you'd all remember it, you would remember it despite the fact that there is no fact in that at all; you probably will remember this next year this exact date. That is because I created a picture of her and her life instead of just giving a date, name and place."

"But what is the use in teaching about her then, what does she matter to us?", a Gryffindor asked.

"Who are you?" Yugi asked the short, brown eyed boy.

"Colin Creevey, Professor."

"It's a reasonable question, mr Creevey. Now tell me, what do you think about the Millicent Bagnold I made up?" Yugi asked with a smile.

/_You are turning these lessons into psychology lessons rather than history lessons_/ Atem remarked with a smile.

/_Don't distract me_/ Yugi scolded Atem, but with a laugh in his tone.

"Eh, well, eh … I think she was stupid. If she was depressed why would she end the life of her family too?" Colin Creevey wondered.

"Could any of you tell me why I would teach you about that?" Yugi asked the class in general.

A dreamy Ravenclaw said: "So we could learn from her mistakes."

"Very correct, miss...?"

"Luna Lovegood, sir", she said, her silver gray eyes wide-eyed, as if surprised.

"Indeed, you are taught history so you can learn from the mistakes people before you made. It doesn't really matter what you learn, as long as you learn from the message behind it. It is much like fairytales, but the events are true."

Every student in the class was attentive, never had they been promised such an interesting class before. Especially not in History of Magic.

A Gryffindor raised his hand.

"Yes?" Yugi said.

"Not to be disrespectful and all, but where is Professor Binns?"

"I was told by the headmaster that Professor Binns was told that he was dead. He didn't take it too well though, that's why I took his place." Yugi said and frowned at his own choice of words. Had he thought trough them he would never have used those in that way.

The students, however, didn't seem to mind and they seized their questions.

"On with the inquisitions then. The Roman Catholics thought heretics to be twisted, sinful, inferior and perhaps even dangerous. The inquisitions started around the beginning of the 12th century. Already before the 12th century the Catholic Church had suppressed heresy, but it was without torture and death penalty was unusual. It was mainly to prevent the spreading of Catharism that the Roman Catholic Church started to establish inquisitions. The first inquisition was established in Languedoc, southern France, 1184. In the 13th century..."

Someone knocked on the door. It opened and Professor McGonagall came in, her hand on the shoulder of a blonde girl with glasses. "Sorry for interrupting, Professor", McGonagall said. "We have a late student here, she'll be attending fourth year Ravenclaw. I'd like to introduce Rebecca Hawkins."

Yugi dropped the chalk he had been holding.

/_By the Egyptian gods_/ Atem said breathlessly.

Yugi didn't even hear his darker. "My god! Rebecca?"

Rebecca had been acting uncharacteristically shy and had been eying to wooden floor, but when she heard Yugi she looked up. "Yugi?" she called out surprised.

"You two know each other?" Professor McGonagall asked incredulous.

"Yes, our grandfathers were close friends. We've met on occasion", Yugi said staring at Rebecca who was staring back.

"How fortunate then. Late students always have a harder time adapting than those who come in at first year. Please miss Hawkins, go find Professor Flitwick after this class, he is head of your house. He'll explain everything to you, if you can't find him ..."

"I'll help her find him. Thank you Minerva." Yugi said, dismissing her. McGonagall left the classroom with a frown and Yugi was sure he hadn't heard the last about it yet.

"Please sit dawn Rebe … miss Hawkins", he said and frowned. "Sorry, that will take some getting use to."

The students had started whispering and Yugi felt sorry for Rebecca. The rumors that went around to smear him would also affect her. He just hoped that there were students who could look around that. Rebecca sat down in between Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood.

"Alright, be quiet and lets get on with class. Rebe … I do apologize; miss Hawkins, I'm sure you can keep up with us. In the 13th century..."

* * *

><p>"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" Harry heard as they were on their way from Charms to Transfiguration. Harry and the others turned around to see Ginny come running. "Listen to this. I've just had History of Magic and the most weird thing happened!"<p>

Harry's interest was directly awoken. He loathed Umbridge, he disliked Snape, he was angry with Dumbledore, but Professor Muto was a mystery to him. If he judged simply by the first lesson he had of History of Magic he would have liked the Professor a lot. But there was something dark and sad over him, even something mysterious. No one really knew how this muggle had ended up in Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dean seemed to recognize him; Hermione believed him to have something to do with an ancient Egyptian legend; and now what was Ginny up to?

"What is it, Ginny?" Ron asked, equally interested.

"I … we … I mean ..." Ginny panted.

"Calm down and take a breath first, Ginny", Hermione instructed and put a hand on Ginny's shoulder.

Ginny waited until her breath became normal, then she said, "We have a new student in the class a late comer."

"Late comer?" Harry wondered. "What's that?"

"Someone who's magical gift isn't discovered until later; it's rare but it happens", Hermione explained. "What's so special about that late comer?"

"Her name is Rebecca Hawkins and she knew him, she knew Professor Muto!"

"That can happen, can't it?" Hermione said and shrugged.

"Oh, Hermione! How big are the odds?" Ron said annoyed. Then he turned to his sister with a look of a thousand questions. "Which house is she in? Slytherin? In that case there really is something wrong with that Professor."

"She's in Ravenclaw."

"Poor girl", Hermione said.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Well, isn't it obvious. With all the stupid rumors around Professor Muto, she will take harm from them too, considering they know each other." Ginny said, outsmarting her brother. "I have to go to class."

"Hm, so do we", Hermione said. "Let's go, we can talk more about this later."

* * *

><p>The classroom was empty, except for Yugi and Rebecca who were eying each other with quite a bit of tension in the air. Rebecca, who had grown fast, was now equally tall as Yugi. She had changed a lot more than him; her blonde hair was longer, but she still had a fringe. Her glasses were still the same, but for the rest... It was the first time Yugi had seen her without skirt, she had wore pair of tight jeans and a long-sleeved turquoise T-shirt. She had a red band that went over her right shoulder down to her left hip with a cardholder attached to it; she still dueled.<p>

/_We haven't dueled in ages_/ Yugi remarked. /_Not since the Ritual Duel_/

/_That's true_/ Atem didn't feel the need to remind Yugi that it had been his choice. He could still have entered the world championships that Pegasus still organized on occasion to lure them out, but they never had taken the bait. Pegasus was not pleased by it, he didn't want to crown someone the new King of Games without them beating Yugi first. Despite that the opinion of many duelists was that because Yugi didn't show up anymore he'd forfeit his title and that it should be given to someone else. Yugi had once asked Atem whether he should give up the title they still owned officially, but both Atem and Yugi had disliked the idea.

"Rebecca, what are you doing here?" Yugi asked with a frown. He wasn't pleased with her sudden appearance.

"Learning of course", she said and Yugi noticed that at least her voice hadn't lost its character, it still sounded wiseacre-like. "The question is what you are doing here. You are no wizard, are you?"

"No", Yugi said. "I'm here for different reasons."

"Has it something to do with Anzu and the rest?" Rebecca wondered. "I mean I know it was said to be an accident that the tomb collapsed and that only you, Ryou and Mokuba got out, but ever since then …" She took a breath to calm herself. "You've changed. What really happened? I mean, you didn't even show up on their funerals, not one of them!"

What Rebecca said was true and it was something he regretted thoroughly now, but he just couldn't bring himself to visit their graves in Japan and Egypt. He didn't react to Rebecca's words, he just turned away from her and placed both hands on his desk.

"Yugi", Rebecca said and Yugi was surprised to hear tears in her voice. "They were my friends too. The only ones that know what truly happened are Mokuba, Ryou and you. I don't know Ryou and I didn't dare ask him at the funerals."

Yugi felt tears in his own eyes and blinked hard to get rid of them.

Rebecca went on, her voice both getting louder and angrier steadily. "Mokuba was unaddressable at the funerals, I believe that the only one who would have been able to get him out of it would have been you, but you didn't show! You didn't show and I couldn't find out what happened! I want to know! I crave to know!" Then, lowering her voice again, almost to a whisper, "I believe I have a right to know."

Yugi turned around after wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "You're right. You deserve to know, and so do your grandfather, Shizuka and Mai. They also lost people they cared about."

"Who's Shizuka? And wasn't Mai serving the Orichalcos?" Rebecca asked, for a moment forgetting about the question at hand. However Yugi was sure he wasn't getting out of the room until he had told Rebecca what had happened.

"Shizuka is Jonouchi's kid sister", Yugi said. He didn't know Shizuka very well, the moment they met he had been busy with too many other things to pay any attention to her and it had been a long time since. Somehow Yugi felt guilty about that, she had been a big part of one of his best friends lives. She had been the reason for Jonouchi to fight, yet he could barely remember how she looked.

"I saw her at his funeral. I don't remember her at all though, it's been several years since... She definitely deserves to know. What about Mai?"

"We met Mai on Duelist Kingdom. Heard about it?"

Rebecca nodded.

"She was rather self-absorbed, shallow and even insecure. She was a loner, thought she could make it on her own. Somehow she ended up with our lot, she annoyed Jonouchi incredibly and saved us from dying from hunger. Me and Atem..." Yugi paused when he saw Rebecca's oblivious expression. "Right, I forgot, you don't know. Atem is the Pharaoh's name."

Atem was not surprised at Rebecca's facial expression, however Yugi didn't understand why she looked so disturbed.

/_She blames me for what happened in Death Valley_/ Atem explained and could fully understand the disturbed silence he got as an answer. Those events still were a sensitive subject for the both of them.

"However, Mai", Yugi continued. "we saved her from a so called Player Killer called Panic. They used low methods too win and take the other players so called Starchips. She lost and we won them back for her. Eventually we started to get alongl, especially Jonouchi, but also Anzu and I started to get along well with her and during the events of Battle City Mai fell prey to the powers of the Shadows. Jonouchi fought to free her, he cared a lot about her. But Mai got afraid, terrified of losing, she thought that if she did she would become lonely. She joined with Dartz so she would never need to lose. Joey got her out of the grasp of the Orichalcos and she felt terrible. She left in shame and I haven't heard from her since. She might not even know that they all are dead. But shouldn't you..."

Rebecca interrupted him. "If you were to finish that sentence with: go find Professor … something, then you'll be sorry!"

Yugi smiled a bit; Rebecca was herself alike. "Okay, then I won't."

"Now what happened!" she demanded to know.

"We were attacked just as the gateway to the next world opened. One man killed nearly all of us. He was no ordinary man though, he was a wizard, a Death Eater, called Lucius Malfoy", Yugi informed her. "The tomb collapsed when Atem missed his opportunity to pass into the afterlife. It was easier to blame the tomb for killing them than evil wizards and Death Eaters. I decided to find this Death Eater, I made a drawing of him and started asking around. Clearly I was doing something dangerous, because for a couple of weeks ago a man called Albus Dumbledore told me that if I valued my life I'd stop showing it around. He is just as against the Death Eaters as I am and I promised him to aid him in his fight, though only for my revenge. At least it was only for my revenge until I got to this place. Now I feel like this entire fight is a personal issue. Especially now you've turned up", Yugi added with a sigh.

"Why?" Rebecca wondered. "What fight?" She seemed very displeased by the fact that she didn't know what was going on.

"Time will explain soon enough. Just take care of yourself, this is no safe world for either you or me. Now you really should get going", Yugi said and sighed deeply.

Rebecca nodded and walked towards the door. When she put her hand on the doorknob she said, "I'm glad that you're okay, physically at least, Grandpa and I have been really worried about you, both of you."

Atem was grateful about her expression of acknowledging and asked, /_Yugi, may I?_/

/_Sure, go ahead. I'll leave you two to talk in privacy_/ Yugi answered and retrieved to his soul room.

"Rebecca", Atem said in means of greeting.

"Atem", Rebecca greeted back politely. She did no effort to keep up the slightly hostile façade, and it soon fell, "What happened to Yugi? He's so different, he used to be kind and … and..."

"Nice, understanding, cheerful, forgiving, calm, trusting, sensitive, just, open-minded, honest, patient, helpful … simply _good_", Atem suggested.

"Yeah, all of that", Rebecca said. "Where did all that go?"

"That went with the lives of our friends. I try to keep him from doing something he'll regret, just like he kept me from doing so when I was just released. I promise I'll take care of him Rebecca, you just take care too."

Atem was not joking, he was dead serious. Perhaps that was what made Rebecca say, "I guess it would both be stupid and childish to keep a grudge against you for what happened in California. Perhaps I'll get to know you too, eventually."

She opened the door and closed it behind her as Atem was watched her in silence.

* * *

><p>Had originally planned to make Rebecca Shizuka but the age difference between Shizuka and Yugi isn't big enough. Despite that I do like working with Rebecca a lot more than Shizuka, Rebecca's got guts.<p>

I'm European; thus the reason for using centimeters and meters rather than using inches and foot. They make no sense anyway.


	5. Taking the Jump

Finding the YGO manga in Sweden really is something of a challenge

Enjoy

* * *

><p>Wednesday morning Yugi made his way towards the grassland behind the castle. Madam Hooch was already there with the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins. The students stood in two lines, holding out their hands and yelling 'Up!' at their brooms several times. Here and there some brooms lifted a decimeter before falling to the ground when its student lost his or her concentration. No one had noticed him yet. Madam Hooch kept instructing the students, she seemed to have trouble keeping her calm.<p>

She noticed him after helping a Gryffindor who had attracted the broom of the person in front of him. "So you came to watch? It's chaotic, don't believe I've ever seen such a hopeless class before", she sighed. "Don't think there will be many promising Quidditch players among them."

"I think it's fascinating", Yugi stated. "I can't wait for the first match."

"I both am and aren't", madam Hooch said with a frown.

"Why?" Yugi wondered.

"See, I love the game. It's just that no matter how often I crave a nice and clean game the Slytherins and Gryffindors knock each other from their brooms, they kick, they hit... It's terrible. Oh, well, it's part of the sport, it's a rough game."

"I like games", Yugi said and smiled bitterly.

Madam Hooch did notice the sudden flare of darkness around him that faltered just as soon as it appeared. She didn't like it, the Professor himself was in her eyes a likeable person, but there was something more to him.

"What kind of games?" Madam Hooch asked and pushed away her feelings of unease.

"Card games, mostly", Yugi said with a frown. The sound of 'card games' didn't live up to the intensity of the games he played, actually it sounded rather pathetic.

Madam Hooch snorted. "Card games are nothing. They require no skill, no strength, no stamina, no team-play; nothing!"

Yugi laughed out loud when he heard that. "Those games require a lot more of all the above than you think."

"Sure", Madam Hooch said, clearly not believing him. "I have to go attend my class before they all break their brooms. Why don't you come to try next week? You just might turn out to be a wizard."

"Sorry, I think I will decline", Yugi said. "I'm rather sure I'm no wizard and I don't feel the need to be. I surely wont try to be." Yugi kicked a rock away and dug his hands in his pockets.

His words had caught madam Hooch's attention. She saw her class was still busy trying to get their brooms to their hands, slowly making progress; she turned to face him again.

"Why wouldn't you want to be a wizard?" she wondered. "What's wrong with it?"

"I've had bad experiences with wizards. It's my own fault I ended up here, I dug to deep in things that should have been laid to rest. Dumbledore took me in to keep me from getting in trouble. I had actually two choices; come here and teach or die. To me that's still an easy choice."

"Dying?" Professor Hooch wondered troubled. "Why? What did you do?"

/_You took the sprint, now you only need to take the jump_/ Atem said and appeared in spirit form next to Yugi. He knew precisely what Yugi was trying to do and he'd support him all the way. /_I'll be there to catch you_/

/_What about you? When are you going to jump?_/ Yugi accused him.

/_I did it in the beginning, several years ago. I did it because you couldn't. Now I'm glad I did, things are easier to understand if you do_/

"Yugi? Yugi!" Professor Hooch yelled at him and snapped her fingers before his eyes. "Wake up!"

It was probably because he was the youngest but all the teachers called him by his first name, all except for Professor Snape. It wasn't uncommon among the teachers to call each other by the first name but Yugi was still unaccustomed to it, after all he was used to the regular sensei. Yugi blinked a couple of times and then fixed his gaze on madam Hooch. "What I did? I tried to hunt down a Death Eater."

Madam Hooch dropped her jaw. "What? Why? You insane?"

"At the moment I didn't know who or what he was, I found that out later."

Madam Hooch was still staring at him wide-eyed. She seemed unable to say anything.

/_Just do it, partner_/ Atem said encouragingly.

"I did it because he killed my friends and family. My friends and family are dead, I just haven't admit that to myself yet. If I did things would probably become better, but I haven't dared yet. I have been too busy hunting, now I can't anymore, now I have to look where I'm going instead of just rushing ahead."

"I'm sorry", Madam Hooch said horrified.

"So am I. Now I'll leave you and your class; your students seemed to have achieved what they wanted to achieve." It was true, all students were standing with their brooms in their hands. Curious whispers went through the class when they saw the look on Madam Hooch's face. Yugi turned and left.

With hasty steps he made his way towards the castle. Yugi was glad that everyone was attending classes so he could make his way without being seen; just to be stunned when he reached the doors towards the great hall. Peeves was busy writing down all the rumors that smeared Yugi on the two doors with illuminating letters, but not only the rumors the students had made up, other things too ...

Peeves was oblivious of the fact that Yugi was standing behind him. Yugi clenched his jaw and a great anger started to build up in him, the kind of anger that Yugi couldn't have felt before it was placed within him by the deaths of his friends.

"Peeves", he whispered.

The ghost turned around and started laughing when he saw Yugi. Then to Yugi's great surprise he started singing.

"_A little Death Eater killed Muto's friend,  
><em>_She was number one and her name was Anzu,  
><em>_Lucius Malfoy burst in a waved his wand,  
><em>_There went number two and his name was Kaiba,  
><em>_A green flash through the air,  
><em>_Number three fell to the ground and his name was Marik..."__  
><em>

_/Let me handle this before the entire school hears it!/ _Atem demanded stressful from Yugi.

"A Shadow Game?" Yugi whispered with a frown.

/_Yes_/ Atem said and didn't even expect Yugi to protest anymore.

"Okay … but don't do him any lasting damage."

Atem was astonished. It had been ages since Yugi had asked for something like that, nowadays he usually was the one to encourage a Shadow Game when needed. It made the former Pharaoh glad that Yugi was getting his softness back, slowly but sure. Atem took control and Peeves noticed it; he stopped singing and stared. "Who are you?" he asked eventually.

Atem studied the door further. Some of the messages were absolutely not suppose to come out.

_Let's play a shadow game ..._

_It is said that an evil being was locked away in the items …_

_The darkness that's in your heart is in my heart too ..._

_I allowed my anger to take over and you paid the price …_

_You used the power of the shadows to destroy Egypt..._

_Are you good or are you evil?_

_Tell me where Yugi is!_

_I'm letting the seal take me instead ..._

_Now that you're gone the darkness is starting to grow ..._

_You've already shown me who you really are ..._

_Last time you didn't care who suffered!_

There was a lot more written on the door but these were the sentences and questions that had always haunted Atem most and thus the ones that caught his eye. He narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm sure you know. It seems like you've gotten your hands on our notebooks."

Peeves laughed and started singing again;  
>"<em>Once there was a Pharaoh, wicked as could be!<br>He destroyed upper and lower Egypt!  
>He used powers dark as shadows,<br>and he didn't care who suffered! _

_Oh, all take cover!  
>'Cause now he is among us!<br>He possesses the short little teacher,  
>and killed all Muto's friends<em>!"

"You went too far!" Atem said with an anger to frighten anyone.

Peeves was dumbfounded. He was used to people yelling at him, but somehow this was different, darker.

"You dug to deep in secrets that should have stayed hidden. Remove these words at once and speak to no one about this!" Atem demanded with a furious crimson gaze.

Hadn't he already died Peeves would have thought he would die right then and there because of the intense gaze. He shook these feelings away and asked scornful, "What if I refuse, what if I tell everyone in the castle?"

Atem frowned. "Let's make a deal. We play a game; if you lose you remove the text and will keep this to yourself for all eternity, if you win you can tell whoever you like."

"I never lose", Peeves pointed out, hoping to scare the ancient spirit out of the deal. He had read enough to know he didn't stand a chance.

Atem's eyes narrowed and the ghost realized it was no use. "What if I neglect the deal?"

Atem smirked harshly. "Then I will have no choice but to let the shadows devour your very being."

/_Atem!_/ Yugi said horrified. /_You wouldn't!_/

/_I'm bluffing, Yugi. _I _can bluff, he can't_/

"Alright, I accept!" Peeves yelped terrified. "What game?"

"You like making fun of the students and teachers, you behave mischievous all the time, can you even see the world the way it really is? Here are the rules: I tell you about a person, then you have to guess why that person or persons act the way the or she does. If you miss five you loose."

"That's only how I can loose, not you! That isn't fair", Peeves wailed.

"Keep it down!" Atem growled at the poltergeist. "I wasn't done yet! You have to tell me about something you've done, then I have to guess why you did it. If I have five wrongs I will loose."

"Fine, I'll start. When the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher of 1994 showed up I kept calling him Looney, Loopy Lupin. Now how would you know why I did that?" Peeves still did brave attempts to be scornful but wasn't very successful.

"I know a lot more than you think. For instant I know that Remus Lupin was a werewolf. Was that why you kept calling him that?"

"Yes you're right", Peeves said grumpy. "You're turn."

Atem gave the poltergeist a wry smile. /_Guess I dug my own grave, I don't want to do this_/ he told Yugi.

/_Isn't there a way to get out?_/ Yugi wondered. He had already been uncertain about this Shadow Game, but had believed in Atem's judgment.

/_Of course there is, admitting defeat, though that's no option right now. There's too much at stake_/

The ancient ruler sighed. "Once there was a girl with white hair, pale skin and blue eyes in a land were the sun turned everyone brown and black hair protected the people from merciless rays. In that very same country there was a white dragon with blue eyes. The villagers stoned the girl, why?"

"Heh, that's easy", Peeves snorted. "They were making fun of her because she looked so much like the dragon!"

Atem shook his head. "No Peeves, they weren't making fun of her, they were afraid of her. They accused her for the existence of the white dragon, despite the fact that the dragon had saved several villages from slave-traders."

"Idiots", Peeves remarked. "So I'm one down. Four to me, five to you. My turn..."

"You know what Peeves, lets finish this off quickly. I've got better things to do", Atem growled dangerously. "The reason for anything you do is because you love to create chaos and disorder. Am I correct?"

"Of course it is", Peeves said and rubbed his forehead with one finger. "We both know you'll win if we keep this game of yours up. So the only way for me to win is to cheat!"

"I thought you had read our notes?" Atem asked bewildered. "You should know what happens to cheaters."

"How are you going to punish a ghost?" Peeves wondered curiously and launched in midair. "Besides I wouldn't call it cheating, call it forfeiting,"

"That's fine by me", Atem said, secretly relieved. He had no idea how he could have made up such a bad game, he was out of form and distracted by the devastation he felt in Yugi's heart. "That does mean though, that you have to acknowledge me as winner and thus follow the deal. Don't tell anyone."

"Pff, you thought I was going to keep that promise?" Peeves wondered and started singing again. "_Once there was a Pharaoh, wicked as could be!_"

"Fine then", Atem called out angered. "You broke the rules! In a Shadow Game those that break the rules awaits terrible punishment! You should know that!"

"What's that?" Peeves asked terrified as the eye of Horus appeared on Atem's forehead.

"I'll show you! Penalty game! Illusion of reality!"

"No!" Peeves screamed and Atem realized he had to get out quickly, before Peeves attracted the attention of Filch or a teacher. "No! Don't make me see this! This isn't true!"

Atem looked around him nervously. It wasn't easy to get away unseen if anyone appeared. The staircases from the door to the Great Hall were all rather visible from nearly anywhere. Good thing there were no paintings that could have seen anything. "If you remove the text on the door and promise not to provoke me … or Rebecca ever again I'll take it away. Hurry!"

The text disappeared and Atem removed the illusion, conjured by the shadows, instantly. "Now this is our little secret", he whispered. Then he turned around and walked away.

As soon as he reached his chamber Atem checked on Yugi who had withdrawn to his soul room. He saw no other option to withdraw himself and talk to Yugi inside their mind and soul. When he found himself in his chamber, that no longer was a maze, he opened the door and walked into the little hallway between their two souls. Yugi's door was closed, not so unusual of lately.

/_Come out, partner_/ Atem said and knocked on the door.

Yugi opened it a bit and the former Pharaoh saw tears in Yugi's eyes, true tears, finally. Atem cocked his head slightly and placed a hand on the door. /_Yugi?_/

The short Japanese pushed the door open entirely and sank to his knees, sobbing uncontrollable. Atem also sank to his knees and just held Yugi whose tears were far from run out. He rocked the younger slightly and whispered, /_It's okay. It's okay_/ Had it been anyone else Atem would have been forlorn, but with Yugi it was alright.

/_I can't believe they're dead!_/ Yugi sobbed.

Atem didn't reply to that. What could he have said? They've been dead for a long time? Not an option.

/_I feel so empty, alone. I didn't want to feel alone_/

/_I know, Yugi. I understand. Things 'll become better now, even though it might not seem like that_/ Atem whispered softly. He liked this side of himself, though it only ever came out – with some exceptions – when Yugi needed it, which wasn't often.

/_They can't get any worse, can they?_/ Yugi sobbed bitterly.

/_Don't tempt faith, Yugi. We still have Rebecca, Ryou and Mokuba. There are still persons in your heart, and in mine, we are not alone yet. Besides, we'll never be alone as long as we've got each other, I'm still here for you_/

/_But you shouldn't be!_/ Yugi called out angrily and looked up to meet Atem's gaze. /_You should have passed on instead of being trapped here! Now you'll be here forever, or in there!_/ Yugi gave the door behind the Pharaoh a nod.

/_Right now I'm glad I'm still here for you. We'll see what happens later, when that time comes_/ Atem sighed, well aware Yugi was right. Though he wasn't going to admit to anyone that he was afraid of the future, afraid of forever needing to guard the shadows and needing to see everyone he cared about passing away without being able to follow them.

/_Was this how it felt for you in the beginning, when you were away so long?_/ Yugi wondered.

Atem shook his head. /_You and I might be alike in many ways, but you and I feel different. I was __angry, not directly crushed, it took a while before I reached that stage. Then it became empty inside, there were great slashes over the walls inside my soul room that showed my agony, but it was empty from feeling. While keeping you from doing something you'd regret I started to handle and accept. I have done that now, there is no anger or devastation left, just a great never-ending sorrow. You can live with it, but not ignore it. You'll never get over them, you just have to keep their memory alive_/

/_I'll try_/ Yugi sobbed and gave Atem an attempt at a smile. /_So what did you do to Peeves?_/

Atem was well aware that Yugi simply was trying to distract the both of them, but the former Pharaoh was okay with that. Yugi needed still some more time and a good sleep but Atem just didn't want to let him go yet.  
>_I showed Peeves how life really is, instead of the fun and jokes life is to him. He sees life very simple, the more people are annoyed, the more chaos, the better; I'm nearly jealous of him. But he can't really feel, not sadness, not anger, no true joy, just a immense and uncontrollable malice; I petty him_/

/_He won't do it again, will he?_/ Yugi wondered.

/_No, he won't_/ Atem got to his feet. /_Come on Yugi, take a nap before your first class begins_/

* * *

><p>Wednesday was a pain to Harry. He got loaded with even more homework while he hadn't even finished the homework from the previous day. He had also Professor Muto's assignment and another detention with Umbridge to look forward too. He was so busy that he didn't notice anything strange, like a load of third year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs that didn't hurry away from the Great Hall after lunch when classes started again like everyone else. Neither did he gave the fourth year Slytherins and Hufflepuffs a thought when he saw them playing outside while they should be in class. He only knew he envied them.<p>

At dinner Angelina Johnson, the Gryffindor house team quidditch captain tracked him down. She gave him hell when she found out he couldn't make it to tryouts that Friday. When he told her he was in detention and couldn't help it she didn't listen and just stormed off.

"At least it's only lines", Hermione said consolingly, as Harry sat back down on the bench. "It's not as if it's a dreadful punishment, really..."

Harry nodded, for a moment he had considered telling them what happened when he had detention with Umbridge, but it seemed like something between Umbridge and him. A fight of wills and Harry wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of complaining.

"I can't believe how much homework we've got", Ron said miserably.

"Well, why didn't you do any last night?" Hermione asked him. "Where were you anyway?"

"I was … I fancied a walk", Ron said shifty.

With that answer Harry was convinced he wasn't the only one concealing things at the moment. The three of them hadn't noticed Dean coming up to them, but suddenly he sat down next to Ron. "Hey. Has any of you seen Professor Muto today?" Dean wondered.

The three friends looked at the staff table simultaneously but Professor Muto was nowhere to be seen.

"No", Harry said and the third and fourth years came to his mind. "I believe all his classes were canceled today. I wouldn't know why though. How so?"

"You see, I'm still trying to figure out why I recognize that guy, I mean I even know his voice from somewhere."

"The hair would be enough to recognize him by", Ron pointed out.

Harry and Dean chuckled. "That's what I said the first time", Harry remarked. "What about Rebecca?"

"Who's that?" Dean asked confused.

"Rebecca Hawkins, fourth year Ravenclaw. She arrived yesterday", Hermione explained. "She knows Professor Muto. I believe that their grandfathers know each other very well and that they have become friend due to that many years ago. Though it's still a bit weird."

"Hermione", Ron complained, "why do you need to be so suspicious of him?"

"You weren't there, Ronald!" Hermione snapped at him. "Something was off about the way he told me!"

"What are you talking about?" Dean wondered and was looking from one to the other.

Hermione looked at Harry but he just shrugged, she didn't need his approval.

"You know these hieroglyphs on the wall?" Hermione started. Dean nodded. "Well, last Monday I stayed to ask him about them. He told me a legend, but it sounded as if he knew more than he wanted to pretend about and as if he had personal ties to it. This is how it goes ..."

Both Ron and Harry had heard it before, yet they were both listening carefully.

"Wow", Dean said breathlessly when Hermione was done.

"You know, it still doesn't make much sense", Ron said. "It's way too confusing."

"Isn't the important part the Pharaoh?" Dean wondered. "I mean, his part made sense. There was an evil being that tried to destroy his country. He sacrificed his own life and soul to seal away himself and the evil being within a specific item, a puzzle, using his name as the key to do so. Then he wiped his own memory and his name from history. Brave guy."

"I think it's sad", Harry remarked lowly, but it wasn't that what was on his mind. He was thinking about the dark powers Hermione had told them about, if they were real, what would happen if they fell into the wrong hands. Shadow Games … Harry had a hard time imagining Voldemort playing games, though if they were powerful enough to do so much damage … The only thing he found difficult to understand was what spell they could have used to make such power within those item, magic didn't work that way; you couldn't create power with spells. They were missing a vital part of the story.

"But what's the important part of this story? I mean to me it sound like a legend, a myth", Dean said. "Why do you think it's true? I've never heard about it before."

"I send Ron's brother Bill a letter. He works for Gringotts as a cursebreaker. He has been in Egypt, so perhaps he knows something", Hermione said. "I expect it back any day now."

"Well, let me know anything interesting", Dean said, stood up and left the Great Hall with Seamus.

* * *

><p>Thursday morning Yugi awoke rather slowly. Usually he was up at once, but now he had his eyes half-open and was lying with his hand under his pillow looking up. He felt weird, as if he had slept a very long time. What day was it? Right, Wednesday.<p>

/_Sorry to disappoint you, but it's Thursday morning_/ Atem pointed out softly and appeared in spirit form next to Yugi, sitting on the bed. /_Your next class starts in exactly one hour. They canceled all your classes for you yesterday. You have to thank madam Hooch for that_/

"Hm, I will thank her, at breakfast. Guess I better get dressed." He got out of bed, got dressed and entered the Great Hall through the teacher entrance. No one seemed to have seen the messages Peeves had written, something both Yugi and Atem were grateful for.

He sat down next to Professor Snape and madam Hooch. "Thanks", Yugi whispered to her as he sat down.

"You seemed to need it", she whispered back, feeling awkward.

"I did", Yugi replied, seemingly casually.

"So, any terrible classes today?" she asked in an attempt to make conversation.

"Fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Been told they're the worst combination to have, though I didn't see why last time. I just hope they've done what I asked them too", Yugi said and a miniscule smile appeared as he thought about the first class he had ever taught.

The third and second years gave no trouble. At this rate everyone in the castle knew he was a muggle and there was no need to tell anyone. Lunch went by quietly and soon Yugi found himself facing the fifth years again.

"Did you all prepare for today?" he wondered and was pleased when everyone nodded. He made a mental note not to give them too much homework, they probably had more than they could manage already.

/_You are a kind person. My teachers weren't like that_/ Atem said in an attempt to cheer Yugi up a bit. His lighter's dark mood was showing all to clear.

/_You never told me about your teachers_/ Yugi remarked.

/_You never asked_/ Atem replied, with no joke intended.

/_Funny_/ Yugi said dryly.

"Alright, miss Bulstrode, present to us 1840. Tell me what you know."

Yugi listened carefully to their presentations and was absorbing all information he could. He was surprised about how much work the student had actually put in their assignments. He was even more pleased by how well the coöperation between Tracey Davis and Dean Thomas had worked. They did an incredibly job and only Hermione Granger could live up to it.

/_They've been very blunt_/ Yugi pointed out. /_They worked everything out into detail. Though I was troubled by Theodore Nott's description of the war_/

/_You weren't the only one, many Gryffindors were displeased too_/ Atem pointed out.

/_He made the Death Eaters sound like hero's. Perhaps not to smart in a class taught by a muggle_/ Yugi said dryly. /_He was honest though, he made clear what happened. It was good enough for my purpose_/

"Very good everyone. We will be starting on Monday with ..." Yugi interrupted him self abruptly when his eyes fell on the red clock above the door. "We'll be taking that on Monday. You're free to leave."

As soon as the students had left the classroom Yugi turned to face the wall with the tablets; he sighed deeply.

/_Yugi, we're not alone yet_/ Atem said.

Yugi turned around and found Tracey Davis hesitating by the door. "Anything wrong, Miss Davis?" Yugi asked her.

Tracey Davis shook her head. "No, Professor, it's just ..." She did her best to search for words.

"Did you mind that I put you together with a Gryffindor?" Yugi suggested.

"No, it's not that!" Tracey said quickly, a bit to quickly; she went red. "It went really well working with Dean, we actually had a lot of fun. But it's not that it's … I think you should hear this from a Slytherin, because we are so stereotyped you know … I mean people are taken in by Slytherin because of cunning, resourcefulness and ambition, there's nothing wrong with that. The reason that nearly all Death Eaters come from there is because it has almost all the pure-blooded wizards and witches. It's simply logical." She took a brief pause to catch her breath. "Sorry, I'm rambling, I just wanted to tell you that we don't all share Theodore's or Draco's values. Some of us Slytherins, too, think you are a very good teacher despite what the others say and I believe that even some of _us_ would stand up against _him_, if he's on the rise once again."

"You believe he is?" Yugi wondered surprised. "I've been told everyone takes Professor Dumbledore and young mister Potter as liars."

"I don't know, I believe many people just don't want he-who-must-not-be-named to be back and refuse to consider it but … Yeah, I believe he is. Too much has happened, particularly last year, for him not to be. I don't think they're liars, I think they're brave that they keep fighting for their cause despite the reputation they've gotten."

Yugi nodded. "It's brave of you telling me this, Miss Davis, but you shouldn't be telling me. Tell mister Potter, tell Professor Dumbledore. Show them not everyone thinks they are crazy, that they are not fighting for a lost 'cause."

"Professor Muto, can I ask you something?" Tracey asked.

"Depends", Yugi said with a frown.

Tracey Davis opened her mouth to ask something, then changed her mind. "What will you do if the school is attacked?" she wondered.

Yugi smiled. "Fight, of course."

* * *

><p>When Hermione said that Yugi's and Rebecca's grandfathers know each other it's because she doesn't know Yugi's grandfather is dead.<p>

Perhaps it's unclear what I meant with Harry's pondering. He doesn't know these Shadows true nature, the only kind of magic he knows is the magic that comes from within a person and thus can't figure out how it works.

I was very displeased with my Shadow Game, but to be honest I don't really remember writing it. It's been a terrible week. So sorry if I messed this up, it wasn't planned like his at all. I hope next update will be sooner.

Please review, somehow people stop doing that after the third day I've put it on the website. So prove me wrong and review!


	6. Letter From Bill

Considering I've 46 people who have alerted this story I should at least get that many reviews once this is uploaded. Should I count? ;-D

I detected a Killjoy amongst my reviewers by a mere slip of the hand. Enjoy this new chapter of the Killjoy: Famous Fault.

(MCR! You just got to love 'em)

* * *

><p>Monday morning a large, gray owl with black spots soared over the heads of the Gryffindors as they all were whispering, arguing and swearing over the <em>Daily Prophet<em> and it's front-line article. The owl landed neatly before Hermione without knocking over a thing like Pigwidgeon would have done. It held out a claw in such a dignified way that Harry started laughing, this gray owl was worse than Hedwig.

Hermione carefully loosened the letter from its claw and gave it an owl treat. It hooted proudly and flew of graciously.

"What a beautiful owl", Lavender Brown exclaimed with high-pitched voice when she saw it and pointed towards it.

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked for the sender. "It's from Bill."

"What does he write?" Ron asked, suddenly his concentration was all fixed upon Hermione.

Harry was also listening and Hermione started reading for them:

"_Dear Hermione,_

_Such a coincidence that you ask me about this now. Four years ago a family of tomb-keepers died. They protected the secret of the Nameless Pharaoh and two specific items, a rod and a necklace. We found all this soon after they passed away. Yet when I returned to England we had discovered a lot more. These tomb-keepers had been protecting the secret of the Nameless Pharaoh and those items for five thousand years. The necklace and rod, called the Millennium Necklace and the Millennium Rod, are two out of seven. The remaining items were divided among the different branches of these tomb-keepers.  
><em>

_One of these items, the Millennium Puzzle, was buried in the Valleys of the Kings in the tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh. We know nearly nothing about him.  
>That tomb has been discovered by humans before, yet the one who entered and left didn't share this information because the tomb was untouched by archeologists. Yet the treasures were all still there, thus it couldn't have been grave robbers either. This is all really confusing to write this to you. We've gotten surprised time after time in our investigation. At the end there was an empty pedestal. No puzzle. Now you must realize that these traps were nearly unavoidable or breakable for us Curse Breakers and we were attacked by monsters time after time, a human shouldn't have been able to do it.<br>_

_We found scriptures that described so called Shadow Trials. In ancient Egypt criminals were tried by the power of the seven Millennium items that all had their individual power, but they all controlled the Shadows. If a person turned out to be evil their Ka (a kind of monster that is part of a humans soul) would show it and that Ka would be trapped within huge stone tablets by the Shadow Magic. These monsters could be controlled by the people who controlled a Millennium Item, they used them to fight of enemies when needed. The wielders, six high priest under the Pharaoh's command, used DiaDhanks to summon several monster from these tablets (up to three I believe) to fight the Ka's of criminals during Shadow Trials.  
><em>

_This supports the theory of Professor Arthur Hawkins who claimed that the Ancient Egyptians dueled each other with beasts. He called these duels Shadow Games. Now we know they were actually called trials.  
><em>

_We also found scriptures that described an ancient spell to create these Items. The spell requires seven days and 99 human sacrifices. The ritual was preformed by the Pharaoh's brother Akhnaden when the country was under attack. Akhnaden didn't inform the Pharaoh about the required sacrifices and when the Pharaoh gave order to perform the spell Akhnaden slaughtered the village of Kul Elna. When we found the scriptures about Kul Elna we immediately went to check it out, the town still exists. We found indeed a tomb under the sand of Kul Elna. A tomb-keeper named Shadi lived there, yet he was nowhere to be found. We didn't find much there at all, just another description of the spell and the items and the bloody history of Kul Elna.  
><em>

_The task of these tomb-keepers, the Ishtars, were to wait for the Pharaoh who would return. The secret they were to guard was the Pharaoh's memory, they possessed the key. Though great tragedy fell upon this family of tomb-keepers just as the Pharaoh returned. The youngest Ishtar, Marik Ishtar, was the heir of the tomb-keepers legacy. That legacy forbade him to ever go to the surface of the earth and it made him bitter, he was said to bare a hatred towards the Pharaoh and his secrets to which he was supposed to devote his life. Rishid Ishtar was a foundling and the oldest of the children. The father of Marik never saw Rishid as his child and forbade him from ever becoming a tomb-keeper, something Rishid desperately wanted. Instead Rishid was tasked to protect Marik.  
><em>

_Rishid cared greatly for Marik and when he saw how much Marik suffered from the thought of having to be trapped in the tomb for the rest of his life Rishid went to Marik's father and pledged him to make him the next guardian of the Pharaoh's secret so that Marik could be free. Marik's father refused and said that on the day of Marik's tenth birthday Marik would receive the initiation.  
><em>

_Marik got the initiation, which meant that he had to get the clue to where the Pharaohs memory could be found carved on his back. This progress made the hatred within him grow, it was just waiting to explode. It was written that he actually asked Rishid who to hate for this.  
><em>

_Ishizu Ishtar felt sorry for her younger brother and took him out to the surface of the earth secretly, late at night. That taste of freedom became too much and from the darkness within Marik a second personality was born.  
><em>

_When Marik's father found out that he and Ishizu had been outside he blamed Rishid and intended to kill him. Marik's second personality took control and claimed the Millennium Rod, then he killed his father. When his sister tried to stop him she nearly got killed too. It was Rishid who managed to suppress Marik's dark side. Marik didn't remember what happened and he was visited by the priest Shadi who said that the reason of his fathers death was the Pharaoh's return. Marik misinterpret these words and thought the Pharaoh had killed his father.  
><em>

_In a quest for revenge he left the tomb and decided to make sure the Pharaoh would never regain his memories and kill him. Rishid remained loyal to him, hoping to make Marik realize the truth before he killed the Pharaoh and suppressing Marik's even worse dark side who feared Rishid._

_Ishizu Ishtar visited the Pharaoh who had returned, gave him the Millennium necklace and begged him to save her brother, which he promised he would. Marik often tried to kill the Pharaoh through people he possessed with the Millennium Rod but failed.  
><em>

_When Rishid fell in battle by the hands of the god Ra (we haven't been able to figure out what gods they mean but much of this story evolves around three gods that the Pharaoh has to claim in order to regain his memory. These Gods were unbeatable and Marik possessed two out of three) Marik's dark side took over and decided to become the 'true Marik' by destroying Marik's will. It was not written how but the Pharaoh saved Marik from his darker as promised and received the clue to finding his memories in addition to the Egyptian Gods. Tthe two of them were said to come along quite well afterwards. _

_That story had itself a (somewhat) happy ending. The Pharaoh regained his memories and then he was supposed to move on. In the Valley of the Kings there is a tomb that collapsed four years ago, it contained the so called Millennium Stone and a door to the afterlife. Yet that door was unwavering, no spell we tried could breach it. The Millennium Stone is a stone in which the seven Millennium Items fit. Yet the Pharaoh didn't move on, because then the stone should have been gone, same for the door. This Pharaoh still walks among us.  
><em>

_Now you seemed to know an awful lot about the Pharaoh and what happened 5000 years ago. Can I ask you how you found out all that? We found no information about the war you mentioned. We knew that the spirit of the young Pharaoh was sealed within the puzzle and another dark power was sealed within the ring, but not how and why. It would be really great if you could help us with the last pieces of the puzzle. _

_Additionally we can't find the 'Tablet of Lost Memories' which supposedly would give the Pharaoh entrance to his memories. Heard about it? Tell me if you do, can we find that we're done. Then we can see what we will be taking to Gringotts. I've never heard about Zorc Necrophades, are you sure he is a vital part of the story you heard or is he simply a way of making everything bigger than it was?_

_This is a part of Egyptian history that is mayor and will make it into the Daily Prophet in time.  
>Be careful, many of us died while discovering all this. This secret wants to stay secret no matter what the cost is. Don't go somewhere you can't return from.<em>

_Yours sincerely  
>Bill Weasley.<em>"

"Bloody hell", Ron said when Hermione was done reading and stuffed some scrambled egg in his mouth. He swallowed and added, "Do you really think Professor Muto has something to do with all this?"

"Yes I do", Hermione said with a frown. "There is no way these two have nothing to do with each other. Honestly, the Pharaoh from Professor Muto's story gave order to wipe his name from history and the one Bill is talking about is called the 'Nameless Pharaoh'. All I can't understand is what Professor Muto has to do with all this. He surely knew a lot."

"The archeologist's last name was Hawkins, Rebecca's last name is the same. The two of them could be related", Harry suggested.

"In that case we should look up if they really are related, if so we could perhaps be able to find out something about Professor Muto's grandfather", Hermione explained. "I could ask my parents, it's rare that I miss access too internet. When it comes to muggles internet works better than the library."

"What's internet?" Ron asked bewildered.

Hermione and Harry exchanged a gaze. How did you explain to someone like Ron what internet was?

"It's like a library in a little device, but a lot easier and faster", Harry explained. "You have access to nearly anything muggles know if you have that."

"Oh", Ron said, still not understanding a thing. "Sounds handy."

"It is", Dean said as he swept down next to Harry. "Though I don't understand that you even try to make Ron understand. It's not possible."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked fiercely as he rose to his feet and placed both hands on the table. He leaned threateningly towards Dean.

Dean held up two hands in defense. "Take it easy mate, I wasn't trying to insult you."

"That's what it sounded like", Ron hissed at the other Gryffindor.

"Ronald Weasley, sit down!" Hermione demanded as she pulled him back down by his robes. "Idiot! The concept of Internet is nearly impossible to explain to a regular muggle who understands the concepts of electricity, wireless connection, sound waves, satellites and so on. You don't know one of these and thus it's impossible to explain what internet is to you."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Sorry Ron, but Hermione is right."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Ron asked Dean, ignoring Harry and Hermione. He sounded rather grumpy.

"I know who Professor Muto is", their fellow classmate revealed to them. With a huge smile he conjured a magazine from a pocket in his robes. "It's all in here."

* * *

><p>MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM.<br>DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER "HIGH INQUISITOR"

"In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"'The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time,' said Junior Assistant to the Minister Percy Weasley. 'He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve.'

"This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has used new laws to effect improvements at the wizarding school. As recently as 30 August Educational Decree Twenty-two was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person.

"'That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts,' said Weasley last night. 'Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts.'

"It is this last function that the Ministry has now formalized with the passing of Educational Decree Twenty-three, which creates the new position of 'Hogwarts High Inquisitor'.

"'This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the "falling standards" at Hogwarts,' said Weasley. 'The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her own teaching post, and we are delighted to say that she has accepted.'

"The Ministry's new moves have received enthusiastic support from parents of students at Hogwarts.

"'I feel much easier in my mind now that I know that Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective evaluation,' said Lucius Malfoy, 41, speaking from his Wiltshire mansion last night. 'Many of us with our children's best interests at heart have been concerned about some of Dumbledore's eccentric decisions in the last few years and will be glad to know that the Ministry is keeping an eye on the situation.'

"Among those 'eccentric decisions' are undoubtedly the controversial staff appointments previously described in this newspaper, which have included the hiring of werewolf Remus Lupin, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, and delusional ex-Auror 'Mad-Eye' Moody.

"Rumours abound, of course, that Albus Dumbledore, once Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, is not longer up to the task of managing the prestigious school of Hogwarts. "'I think the appointment of the Inquisitor is a first step toward ensuring that Hogwarts has a headmaster in whom we can all repose confidence,' said a Ministry insider last night.

"Wizengamot elders Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden have resigned in protest at the introduction of the post of Inquisitor to Hogwarts.

"'Hogwarts is a school, not an outpost of Cornelius Fudge's office,' said Madam Marchbanks. 'This is a further disgusting attempt to discredit Albus Dumbledore.' (For a full account of Madam Marchbanks' alleged links to subversive goblin groups, turn to page 17)."

Snape closed the paper and threw it disgusted on the table. That toad! How dared she clamp into Hogwarts, mistreating the student, (he was cold, not blind) and now she would attempt to change the school. He glanced around at the teachers, he was sure that he himself would live up to the standards Dolores craved, but not all the others would.

Madam Hooch would be fine, she was the kind of person that could handle people like Umbridge. Professor McGonagall would also be fine, as long as she could keep her temper down. It was a good thing that Minerva was such an exceptional teacher because she would need her qualification to bypass Umbridge's dislike for her, which was great. Professor Sprout would also be fine and so would Professor Grubbly-Plank. It was a good thing Hagrid wasn't back yet. Snape didn't like the half-giant but he was an important member of the order and Snape had decided to put his duty before his personal preferences and thus was happy that Umbridge wouldn't get the opportunity to investigate Hagrid.

When Snape's gaze fell upon Professor Trelawney he sighed silently, there was no way that old fraud would pass Umbridge's investigation. Snape felt a great dislike for the Divination teacher, yet he knew how he would feel if he would be kicked out of Hogwarts and it was such a frightening thought for someone in his position that he didn't wish it upon Professor Trelawney who was much in the same boat as him. Neither of the two had a home outside Hogwarts.

Professor Flitwick and Babbling would also be fine, they were both good teachers and hadn't gotten on the wrong side of Umbridge. Snape was uncertain about Professor Burbage, she didn't really live up to the schools standards, and I Snape's book those standards didn't lie very high. Sinistra and Vector would also be fine.

Then his eyes fell upon Yugi, the only teacher with exception for Minerva he thought about by first name; it felt natural. Yugi had never done anything in this first school week to provoke Umbridge, yet Snape had heard her talking ill about him. Last Wednesday had not been to his advantage. Snape had tried to convince himself that he didn't care but he had been curious.

Snape had been planning just to throw his short colleague a hasty look but he got so disturbed by the look on Yugi's face that he kept staring. Yugi was clearly oblivious to his staring and anything else really. The look on Yugi's face was one that Snape recognized all to well, he had been bearing it often himself; it was an expression of pure agony. So that was the reason he hadn't been teaching classes on Wednesday.

Snape turned away from the History of Magic teacher with a mental sigh. Yeah, he had been tortured like that once, the same darkness surrounded them. Though Snape had the feeling the darkness around Yugi went deeper than his own. An unexpected and uncontrollable hatred for Lucius Malfoy arose within him for the sake of the suffering person next to him.

Snape had realized it rather soon, would the Dark Lord storm the castle and take it Snape would be unable to kill or watch the foreigner be killed. He couldn't dislike him like he had decided to, this was probably the most innocent person that Snape had ever met, but shrouded with grief and hatred, polluting that innocence. Yet that innocence was the thing that was most clear to Snape.

Snape turned his gaze towards the students and noticed that someone else was watching Professor Muto, that new Ravenclaw, Rebecca Hawkins. The rumors about her had flooded through the castle, unstoppable like fiendfyre. Snape would have his first class with Rebecca today, he was curious about her, late students were extremely rare and she was the first in nearly a hundred years. It was said that late students always were the most gifted, Snape was about to find out first hand.

Rebecca had a frown between her eyes and a worried expression. It wasn't surprising that she was worried about someone who she had known since she was eight but Snape still found it weird to see a student looking up at a teacher with such an expression. He caught himself wondering what the Japanese had been like eight years ago.

"Can I borrow your paper?" Yugi asked him, taking Snape by surprise.

Snape nodded and handed him the Daily Prophet. He carefully studied the young mans face as he read the article about Umbridge. His expression became angrier for every word. Then suddenly his expression went blank and his gaze spaced out. Snape frowned and for a moment he was worried about the young Japanese. He sighed silently in relief when his fellow teacher regained focus in his gaze and murmured a Japanese curse under his breath.

For some reason Snape suspected that the History of Magic teacher knew a lot more about the way things were than he pretended to.

* * *

><p>"You found something?" Ron wondered and ripped the magazine from Dean's hand. He looked at it and was just about to open it when he stopped dead. "These pictures aren't moving!"<p>

"Of course they aren't moving, Ron! This is a muggle magazine", Hermione scolded and took the magazine from him. "Tell us!" she then demanded from Dean.

"I get this magazine once every two weeks and mom sends it to here", Dean started with a low voice. They all leaned towards each other a bit. "This one is a summer edition I got the previous summer vacation. I read about the so called King of Games, I got interested and did some research. The King of Games is the title of the world's best duelist. They duel with cards, it's a game called Duel Monsters." He conjured another magazine from his pocket. "This summer vacation a part was about the first American champion under the age of ten. The first ever American champion under the age of ten was..." He opened the second magazine somewhere in the middle. The page had a red background and quiet a lot of text, though it only covered one page, the other page was advertisement for the game itself. The article written on the left page avoided a large picture at the left bottom of the page. The three friends gasped in disbelieve. There in the left corner, with a weird device around her arm was …

"...Rebecca Hawkins."

"Unbelievable!" Ron murmured.

Hermione didn't say anything, she had already started reading.

"I know", Dean said. "Quiet a shock for me, this is an old picture of Rebecca but I recognized her at once when I saw her. With that revelation it also hit me who Professor Muto is and why his appearance filled me with unease." Dean opened the second magazine. "The current King of Games is Yugi Muto."

Harry stared intensely at the article. The background was dark blue, here the text covered two pages and there were more pictures. He had the same weird device around his arm but without a doubt, the person in the left corner was the same person as was teaching them every Monday and Thursday. On the right page there was a smaller picture of a card that showed a man with purple robes and a smaller picture of a building that was called Kame Game Shop.

Hermione snatched it, forgetting the article about Rebecca. Though Dean, who had read it several times during the night knew it by heart and could simplify it for them.

"Yugi Muto became the King of Games, simply falling from nowhere when he beat the creator of the game, Maximillion Pegasuses at the Duelist Kingdom tournament after beating the CEO of KaibaCorp. He has been undefeated since, he has a load of impressive victories to his name. Yet all that stuff isn't important." Dean sighed. "The rumors were that weird things happened during these duels. They were talking about real monsters suddenly appearing, clouds of darkness and people always say that it is as if Yugi had two personalities. Four years ago the King of Games disappeared from the face of the earth after a trip to Egypt. A tomb collapsed while they were in it, nine people died, three survived. Among those who died were: Jonouchi Katsuya, a close friend of Yugi's; Mazaki Anzu, a childhood friend of Yugi's; Yugi's grandfather; Seto Kaiba, the CEO of KaibaCorp, Seto's younger brother was one of the three survivors; Otogi Ryuuji, the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters and many others the King of Games cared a lot about. He didn't even turn up on their funerals, just vaporized."

"Then what's he doing here?" Harry wondered. "And Rebecca? No way that it's a coincidence."

"Of course it's no coincidence", Hermione said and closed the both magazines before handing them back to Dean. She also handed him the letter she had received. "Read this, it's from Bill."

When he had read a bit he commented, "Duel Monsters is inspired from Egyptian carvings." Dean sounded a bit absent and looked up surprised when he saw that Hermione had fiercely started to scribble on a piece of parchment. "What are you doing?"

"If we want to know what's going on we have to know such things, we can't afford forgetting them so I write them down. Tell us all you know about the game!"

Dean lowered the letter a bit. "That's not much, I neither followed the tournaments or played. I don't know the rules."

"I don't think the rules matter", Harry pointed out as he looked at Hermione's piece of parchment. "How long have you been taking notes?"

"Ever since Professor Muto told me about the Pharaoh and Zorc and all. I knew it would be worth it eventually", Hermione said with a small self-satisfied smile. "Dean keep reading, it's truly interesting."

"It's disgusting", Dean said without taking his eyes from the letter. "About those DiaDhanks, look at the pictures of Rebecca and Professor Muto. The devices around their arms are duel-disks, with those you can summon five monsters I believe, they have inbuilt projectors that conjure a holographic image of the beast you summon. It could be the modern-day version of DiaDhanks." He took out one of the magazines and handed it to Hermione.

"What's a projector?" Ron wondered, looking from one to the other. "What's a holographic image?"

None of them bothered answering, it would be just as hard to explain to a muggle why pictures moved in the _Daily Prophet_.

"The DiaDhank's were the real thing, dangerous. Those duel-disks were just for fun and game right?" Hermione wondered.

"It is sold for fun and games, yet some people play with such intensity that the wave motions coming from the projectors actually are strong enough to knock someone over. At least the say it's the wave motion, somehow I doubt it, there is life in this game and I believe Professor Muto knew that; thus the reason he always won. He was mostly known for having a great deal of respect for his opponents and his cards, especially his cards, that was the reason he was favorite on the streets during the entire Battle City tournament, which he actually won." Dean was reading while telling and Harry and Hermione were fascinated.

Ron wasn't pleased, he found everything intriguing but he knew he missed a lot. He didn't understand half the things they said. Projectors, wave motions and holographic images were a foreign language to him and he was glad his father wasn't around. This was muggle knowledge on high level.

"Hey, guys", Dean said suddenly. "I know what Gods they mean."

"What?" the three friends asked simultaneously.

"Slifer the Sky Dragon, The Winged Dragon of Ra and Obelisk the Tormentor. They are cards, the most powerful ones in the game, Yugi (oh, help!) Professor Muto won them during Battle City. There was something weird about these finals, they were broadcast live but each time they would stop the sending in the middle of the duel. In the semifinals Seto Kaiba was in possession of Obelisk the Tormentor and Yugi in possession of Slifer the Sky Dragon, when these two gods clashed the cameras exploded. The illumination and size of these two creatures where way stronger and bigger than the projector of a duel-disk can handle. These cards clearly are more powerful than they should be, which is the reason they are banned from all tournaments. Though I never knew they meant this much."

"What about Marik?" Hermione asked, taking notes at an incredible speed.

"I don't know, I didn't follow it that well. Though I do know that he and his siblings died when the tomb collapsed."

The heads of the golden trio snapped up. "Marik was in the tournament?" Harry asked surprised.

"Well, yeah. Marik Ishtar, Kujaku Mai, Katsuya Jonouchi, Yugi Muto, Ryou Bakura, a guy named Namu and Ishizu Ishtar. Those were the eight finalists. First Professor Muto defeated Ryou Bakura, then Katsuya Jonouchi defeated someone I suppose is Namu, Mai Valentine lost to Marik and Kaiba won over Ishizu. After that no one really knows but those who were aboard the aircraft."

"Then I guess Namu was the Pharaoh", Harry said, who else could it have been. He put his head on the table, trying to get to grips with all the information blown his way. He would have to think it through to see things he might have missed. He was sure that there was something that didn't fit, somehow Namu couldn't be the Pharaoh. Harry gasped and just as soon as the answer to why it couldn't be Namu popped up in his head it disappeared again.

"Hm", Hermoine sighed. She had the same problem as Harry and she kept looking over her notes to find what she had missed.

"I didn't know Professor Muto always had that weird style of his", Ron remarked pointing at the upside down pyramid around Professor Muto's neck on the picture.

"Hm", Dean murmured, thinking to deeply to pay any attention to Ron. "It's a puzz... Fool!" Dean shouted out the insult so suddenly that nearly the entire student body turned his eyes towards him. "Hermione give me your notes!" Dean demanded eagerly. She handed them to him and he started looking through them hastily. First he went through the notes Hermione had taken about her conversation with Professor Muto the first day, then he went back to the notes she had just taken based on his information.

Suddenly Dean stopped dead in his tracks. "This is it", he whispered. "I know who the Pharaoh is."

"Who?" the other three asked simultaneously, bowing forwards in a rather conspiracy-like way.

"Hermione, Professor Muto told you that the soul of the Pharaoh was locked away within a pendant that shattered and became a puzzle right."

Hermione nodded, understanding dawned upon her slowly.

"Well, there is no way the Pharaoh could have been Namu, because Namu was beaten in the first round. Actually, because they were playing with an ante, which means you hand your rarest card to your opponent, the only one who could have been the Pharaoh was the victorious one. That pendant around Professor Muto's neck isn't an actual pendant, it was a puzzle who his grandfather found in an ancient Egyptian tomb."

"But that means..." Ron said, refusing to understand the facts.

"Yes, Ron", Dean said with a little smile of victory. "The Pharaoh is here in the castle, the Pharaoh is our teacher, Yugi Muto."

* * *

><p><strong>End Chapter<strong>

"Yes I do", Hermione said with a frown. "I mean there is no way these two have nothing to do with each other. I mean come on, the Pharaoh from Professor Muto's story gave order to wipe his name from history and the one Bill is talking about just kills people."

This is what I wrote first time. Dad, mum and my uncle are watching a horror movie. I absolutely HATE horror movies. I made my debut nearly a year ago. Just after the Christmas of 2010 with the movie The Ring and it took me all by all six months to completely get over it, if I ever will.  
>Review people, please!<p> 


	7. The House Elf

Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know it took a long time for me to update, but I suddenly got loaded with a unreasonable amount of homework. I don't know who came with idea to send the last years to their TET the last two weeks before Christmas break?  
>Someone reminded the teachers of the TET last Monday and they all suddenly panicked. They thought they had another two weeks to give us our grades, but they've only got this week. I've been busy 24-7 this week. But once this hellish week is over I will have two weeks I can dedicate to this fic.<br>And in addition to that, just to brighten my day, we had a test about the WW1; thought I failed big time but I actually passed with top grades. Go figure...

Enjoy.

* * *

><p>When Yugi entered the classroom Monday morning he noticed at once that something was wrong with the students. Most of them seemed to be down because of the unexpected increase of power Umbridge had gotten, but some others were looking at him with a odd expression on their faces. Yugi frowned, he liked the students and didn't want them to think ill about him. Had he done something wrong?<p>

/_It's the same four_/ Atem pointed out after observing the students a while. /_Dean Thomas, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Though don't worry about it now, partner, you still have an enthralling class prepared for them._/

Yugi smiled at Atem's reminder, surely he had something planned for the fifth years. He shrugged the feeling of unease off and took a bit of chalk. The talk among the students died away as they saw that he was ready to start class.

"Nineteen hundred thirty-nine to nineteen hundred forty-five", Yugi said as he wrote the eight numbers on the blackboard. "What does that tell you? Let's make a mind map."

Theodore Nott raised his hand.

"Yes, mister Nott", Yugi offered.

"Gellert Grindelwald was defeated by Albus Dumbledore in nineteen hundred forty-five, though thirty-nine doesn't tell me anything", Nott said with a shrug.

Yugi smiled. "I'll take your word for it but it's not what I was referring to. Some of you should know, I'm sure of it."

Miss Granger hesitatingly raised a hand. "Do you mean the second world war?"

"Very good miss Granger, five points to Gryffindor. Of course I mean the second world war", Yugi said and his smile broadened. He had been longing to tell them this and he was looking forward to their reactions.

"What's that?" Pansy Parkinson whispered to Blaise Zabini.

Zabini shrugged. "I don't know, never heard about it."

Yugi's smile evaporated. "I know that among some of you this kind of history is not common. Yet someone must be able to tell me who the most important person was in Germany before and during the second world war."

Dean raised a hand, though he seemed rather hesitant.

"Yes, mister Thomas", Yugi offered.

"Adolf Hitler, sir. He took power over Germany in 1933, though he was already very active before that", Dean Thomas said.

"Correct, another five points to Gryffindor. Just to see where your knowledge lays, how many of you know what the second world war was?"

Every Gryffindor, with exception of Lavender Brown, raised his or her hand, only half of the Slytherins did the same thing.

"Now that's good, there is use in me teaching this to you. Thirty years ago when teachers tried to teach this subject at schools there was actually no use, everyone knew what had happened anyway. Especially twenty years after the war when all the horrors had surfaced. Many children had fathers that had fought in the war that gave their children first hand information that outran the information they received at school by far. This day still there are grandfathers that tell their grandchildren what happened. Grandfathers that survived in the battles, but perhaps more importantly those that survived the concentration and extermination camps. Any of you who are familiar with this?"

Seamus raised his hand. "My grandfather fought in the war, he survived, though he suffered from Battle Fatigue afterward. He never really got over it, you could see it in his behavior all the time."

"We'll learn about Battle Fatigue, earlier known as Shell Shock, too. Though today I'll introduce you to what happened before the Second World War and how it could lead to such an incredible slaughter", Yugi said with a frown, suddenly being reminded that he wasn't the only one who suffered.

"That's muggle history!" Draco Malfoy accused Yugi. "I should have told dad about you! He would have kicked you out by now!"

"No", Yugi said, lowering his voice to a low and threatening tone. "He wouldn't have, he couldn't have. I've told you once before that I'm not powerless!"  
>Yugi felt Atem just underneath the surface of his conscience and the power in his Millennium Puzzle was flowing through him. When he had just solved the puzzle he wouldn't have been able to hold Atem back and Atem would not have hesitated to grab the chance to punish Malfoy, but now both Atem and Yugi were more aware about both each other and their environment. Atem knew that Yugi would disapprove if Atem played a Shadow Game with Malfoy and Yugi was strong enough to push part of the Shadows away, with Atem's help he suppressed them.<p>

"What can you do?" Draco Malfoy screamed and stood up so vehemently that the chair tipped. "Dad has connections in the Ministry of Magic, even you must know what that is! He's also the governor of Hogwarts, he _can_ kick you out! Don't you dare challenging him, or me, you filthy muggle!"

Nearly the entire class grasped for breath and Yugi noticed miss Granges exchanging looks with Harry, Ron and Dean. They seemed to be worried about something. It was those glances that made Yugi notice that Hermione Granger already had her note booklet on her desk and had been making notes until the fight between Draco Malfoy and Yugi broke out.

Yugi looked at Malfoy, regretting that he wasn't any taller.

/_I can help you if you want. I promise I won't harm him_/ Atem offered.

/_Let's not risk them noticing the differences_/ Yugi declined. /_People are suspicious enough as it is_/

Atem nodded and withdrew from the edge of Yugi's mind, instead he appeared next to him and sat down on the desk.  
>_You're right. Just don't let them play with you_/

/_They won't_/ Yugi replied to ancient spirit lowly and straightened his back.

"Mister Malfoy, I believe detention will suit you just fine. Tonight at seven in my office, be there. In addition I'll take ten points from Slytherin." Then Yugi turned to face Hermione Granger. "Miss Granger, I believe I've said nothing off importance that you should be taking notes on. What exactly are you writing?" Yugi walked towards her and snatched the piece of parchment that was in her note booklet.

He scanned over it and became pale as it dawned upon him what the letter was about. /_Atem_/ Yugi said and the spirit swiftly got to his feet and walked towards Yugi. He read the letter over the shorter boys shoulder and hissed when he saw what it was about.

"Miss Granger, mister Weasley, mister Potter and mister Thomas can have lunch in my office. The five of us need a good conversation. I'll be keeping this one", Yugi told the four Gryffindors. He noticed Seamus Finnigan looking at his friend with confusement on his face. Why hadn't Dean Thomas inaugurated his best friend in his secret?

"Alright, as mister Thomas already informed you a man called Adolf Hitler took control of Germany in 1933, he aimed to change the country to a dictatorship that would rid itself from Jews, homosexuals and gipsies. They carried anti-Semitic values, telling people that the Aryan Race was superior to all others and that especially Jews were the reason for the problems Germany had, actually for the problems of the world. Please take notes."

Every student, including a grim Malfoy, opened their note booklets and started to take notes as Yugi started telling.

"Many always wonder how Hitler succeeded in planting such terrible values in the German people's minds. Hitler might have been a terrible person but he surely was smart. He focused on young people, knowing that the strength of a nation lays amongst them. Mostly people of your age. During the Nazi reign - 1933 to 1945 - was the German youth exposed to an intensive propaganda. All Germany rectified after the Nazi party's dogma, and the focus was on youth. In school students were brainwashed with Nazi ideas and they were exposed to a strong pressure in their spare time to engage in the Hitler Youth.  
>Hitler Youth is a key to understanding the Second World War. There was a Boy Scout-like Nazi youth movement whose purpose was to unify the youth after Nazi ideals and to prepare them for military life. All similar youth movements that existed before the war were taken over by the Hitler Youth. Eventually, it became almost mandatory for young people to be active members of the Hitler Youth. Those who stood outside were not allowed access to higher education and were often mobbed by their classmates, a bullying encouraged by the Hitler Youth leaders.<br>The Hitler Youth indoctrinated young people to choose the 'New Nazism' in front of their parents' old and outdated views and values. Everyone understands that this message went home with teenagers. Especially as it could have serious consequences for the parents who tried to oppose.  
>The message of the Hitler Youth was not particular 'New'. It was mostly old conservative REMNANTS who mingled with the indoctrination of blind obedience and worship of the leader Hitler. According to the Hitler Youth would the girls go dressed in a skirt and be submissive to men and boys. The boys, however, would be 'hard as steel'.<br>Hitler taught the young people that they belonged to a chosen nation chosen generation, that they were the crown of creation that would bring mankind to paradise. In Nazi vocabulary was conscious slippage between "humanity" and "the German nation." Paradise was the Nazi millennium promised by the Nazi leader Hitler, who became almost like a god in this bizarre cult.  
>When the war then broke out the German soldiers, who were indoctrinated and trained in the Hitler Youth during their youth, often superior to their opponents both at the motivation, training and capacity for individual initiative.<br>During the war last days, when all adults in Germany knew that the war was lost, it were the German children in uniform who continued to fight. Many of them died in the ruins of Berlin."

Yugi stopped when he noticed that more than half the class had stopped taking notes. They were all gaping at him as if he was speaking a foreign language and for a moment Yugi was afraid he had. "What?" he wondered.

"That's terrible!" Tracey Davis exclaimed.

"It is", Yugi said calmly. "That's why I am teaching you about this, so all of you understand what hatred can do. Now let me continue..."

* * *

><p>At lunch time that day Yugi was for the first time in his office, he earlier always just used it to get from his room to the classroom. The reason Yugi didn't use his office was because he liked it a lot better to work with the pictures of his friends in front of him and because students were supposed to come to him in his office if they wanted something he didn't dare put any up in there. Now he had quickly changed the room. The walls had gotten a light blue color and the floor was now a warm red sort of wood. The interior was now white but anyone would notice that Yugi never there. Nothing personal decorated the room, not the smallest of things.<p>

Lunch hadn't even started when someone knocked on the door. "Come in!" Yugi called and sat down. He had expected the door to open but when it didn't he stood up to check out the hallway, there was no one there. When he closed the door and turned around he screamed out in terror and surprise. "My god! Who are you?"

In front of him stood a short creature with large tennis ball green eyes, bat-like ears and pencil-like nose. He was wearing a red sweater and washed out neon green shorts. On his head he wore a gigantic hat, when Yugi looked closer he notices that it wasn't one but a whole bunch of them.  
>"Dobby is here with lunch, Professor, sir", the creature exclaimed.<p>

"Who is Dobby?" Yugi wondered and looked around.

"Me is Dobby, sir", Dobby squeaked.

Yugi laughed. "Okay, well hello Dobby. My name is Yugi, Yugi Muto." Yugi held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you Professor, sir", Dobby exclaimed and shook Yugi's hand with both his own. Then he clicked his fingers and food enough for ten appeared on the white desk.

"Dobby?" Yugi wondered. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"Well", Dobby said, frowning. "Perhaps. But the house-elves like making food and they usually make a bit too much. So it would be really great if you could take all this."

"Alright, but I won't promise we'll finish it all." Yugi laughed and shook his head.

"Sir, Dobby has a question, though Dobby doesn't want to insult Professor, sir", Dobby said and played a bit with one of his ears as he fidgeted.

"Call me Yugi, and ask whatever you like. I promise I wont be angry", Yugi's smile had faltered a bit, he wondered exactly how much this elf knew.

"Who are the people on the photographs? They don't move, Dobby has never seen unmoving pictures before." He ducked a bit as if avoiding a hit.

"Those people were my friends", Yugi answered, his smile completely gone now. "Have you been in my room?"

"Yes, sir. To clean, sir", the house-elf answered frightened. "Dobby is the only one who dares to come in there, sir."

Yugi, who despite his promise had begun getting angry, was distracted by that. "Why does no one else dare to come in there? And don't call me sir, Yugi will do."

"They fear _him_, Yugi sir. They fear the other man, the old one", Dobby answered with a scared voice. "Don't be mad, please!"

"I'm not mad", Yugi said with a voice that proved the opposite. "Just surprised. What other man do they mean?"

"The taller one with the red eyes and frightening voice. You call him … Atem", Dobby whispered, as if afraid that the walls would eavesdrop.

"What?" Yugi exclaimed loudly. "How do you know?"

"Sometimes he appears, Dobby can see him. He can even hear him. He frightens the house-elves, Yugi, sir." Dobby didn't look afraid anymore, he had reached a point beyond terrified. "He is a very dark presence, it lives in there!" Dobby pointed a shaking finger towards the Millennium Puzzle.

/_Please tell me you heard that?_/ Yugi asked Atem.

/_I certainly did. I wonder if he can hear us right now?_/ Atem wondered curiously.

"Dobby can hear him, Yugi, sir. He is talking to Yugi Muto, sir, right now! Can't Yugi, sir, hear him?" Dobby was jumping around the room and pointing a finger towards Yugi. "Dobby can hear him!"

/_A little help please?_/ Yugi begged from the ancient spirit.

Atem frowned mentally. /_Why can't he hear you?_/

/_Who cares_/ Yugi said as the house-elf came closer threateningly. /_Do something!_/

Atem faded out next to Yugi, immediately the elf's eyes were on him. "There he is! There he is, Yugi, sir!"

"I know, Dobby, please calm down!" Yugi begged.

Dobby didn't even register the words but jumped up on the chair behind the desk, waving his finger towards Atem. "There he is!" Dobby lifted one of the scissors and threw it towards Atem, the scissors hit their target, but of course they flew neatly through him.

/_Nice reminder that I'm already dead_/ Atem remarked with a bit of that vague self-humor that now and then appeared out of nowhere. /_Dobby, calm down! _Atem had such a great amount of authority in his voice that Dobby was unable to do anything else but stop yelling, though afraid as he was the elf stood on the chair shivering.

"Don't be afraid", Yugi said calming. He was well aware that the former Pharaoh wouldn't be able to calm such a frightened creature, he simply was to intimidating. "Atem is my best friend."

This didn't seem to calm Dobby much, he started to shake even worse. "Won't Yugi, sir, protect Dobby from the darkness, sir?"

"That darkness is not going to harm you", Yugi assured the terrified house-elf. "That darkness is guarded by us so it wont harm anyone again and I know Atem is scary but he is a good person."

Atem looked at Yugi and then bowed his head. /_Thank you, Yugi._/

"Just saying as it is", Yugi said with a smile.

/_There is no need to fear me Dobby. I have no reason to harm you and neither has the darkness I bare_/ Atem said in an attempt to be calming.

"Dobby once felt this kind of evil before, Yugi, sir. It was in the diary of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The same evil!" Dobby started shivering even worse. "Dobby and the other house-elves fear that power. They do not want it in this school again! They do not want the dark man in the school, after all, house-elves say that he could be a follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Atem's eyes filled with such an indescribable hatred that Yugi completely understood why the house-elves didn't want him around. Dobby squeaked, jumped off of the chair and ran towards Yugi, the house-elf clambered himself to Yugi's leg.

/_Easy, Dobby_/ Atem soothed. /_Yugi might have told you that the darkness that I guard is not meant to harm anyone ever again, but that's not true_/

Dobby responded by clambering himself even harder to Yugi's leg, stopping the flow of blood in it. Yugi clenched his jaw but didn't complain.

/_Let me tell you a secret_/ the dark spirit started. /_The reason we came here was because we were looking for a certain Death Eater, that Death Eater has done very terrible things to the people Yugi __and I care about. Right now these powers I possess have only one goal left, to take down that Death Eater and the one that leads him. If we get the chance we will slay the man known as Lord Voldemort, never would we join with him!_/

"You hate He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Dobby wondered and relinquished his grip around Yugi's leg, Yugi sighed in relieve.

Atem nodded in response to Dobby's question. /_I hate him and his follower with every core of my nonexistent body!_/

"You're dead", Dobby noted.

Atem nodded. /_I've been dead for a very long time, Dobby._/

"But why are you in there?" Dobby wondered and pointed towards the puzzle. "How long have you been there?"

/_Dobby, don't take it personal but I don't think we should tell you too much. It's already too much that you know about my existence. Can all house-elves hear and see me?_/ Atem wondered; he used a soft voice, determined not to scare the house-elf.

Dobby nodded. "Yes they can sir, but they won't tell anyone if I tell them so!"

/_Would you do that Dobby?_/ Atem wondered kindly.

"Dobby will, Pharaoh sir", Dobby said happily. He was clearly glad not to have been devoured by shadows.

Atem and Yugi at the other hand weren't that happy with Dobby's answer. "How do you know Atem was a Pharaoh, Dobby?" Yugi wondered cautiously.

"Eh..." Had house-elves had the ability to turn red Dobby would had the color of fully grown tomatoes. "Well, Dobby cleans room, sir, Dobby got a bit curious about all the decorations. Dobby learned..."

/_Does anyone else know, Dobby?_/ Atem asked while saying a hasty prayer.

"No, just Dobby, Pharaoh, sir", Dobby said alarmed.

/_Good, just don't, please don't tell anyone!_/ Atem begged.

"Dobby won't, Pharaoh sir!" Dobby exclaimed relieved that Atem wasn't angry.

/_Then just please stop calling me that, forget I exist_/ Atem requested with a heavy sigh. /_Same for the other elves._/

"Oh, they wont. They are not free elves, they can't tell anyone, they have to keep the secrets they learn. Dobby is free elf! Dobby can wear clothes!" Dobby spun around with joy when he said so.

"Is that why you are wearing all these clothes?" Yugi asked amused.

Dobby nodded fiercely. "Socks are Dobby's favorite, but Dobby likes sweaters too!"

"Only that?" Yugi asked when an idea slowly started to take shape in his head.

Atem laughed at the idea and was silently glad that Dobby chased the sorrow from Yugi, Yugi might never be the same cheerful, careless and nice person that he once was, but this place had surely had a positive impact on Yugi. /_I believe we've got them in the smaller trunk with things we don't need here._/

"What?" Dobby wondered. "Is Pharaoh, sir, talking to Dobby?"

"No Dobby, he's talking to me. You might be able to hear him when Atem and I communicate, but you can't hear me. Now Dobby, only clothes, or jewelery too?"

Dobby frowned. "What's jewelery?" He sounded a bit suspicious, but also curious.

"Girls wear it a lot", Yugi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Atem took some steps towards the door that lead to their room and gave Yugi a very displeased look. Yugi simply beamed at him.

/_It's not only girls_/ the former Pharaoh ensured the house-elf._ /You see, when I was Pharaoh I used to have earrings. Considering I don't have a body anymore and Yugi simply refuses to take holes in his ears there is absolutely no use in us keeping them._/

Yugi's smile faltered at the thought of how Atem's clothes had ended up in this world. When Atem was about to enter the world of the dead his soul had turned into who he truly was, a Pharaoh and thus he had clothes fitting one. When Lucius Malfoy attacked them Atem had been hit first, the spell had been send through him into the next world. In reply to that the door had closed, leaving Atem to watch his friends die. Yugi didn't know why Lucius Malfoy hadn't killed him, neither did he know why the Death Eater hadn't killed Mokuba and Ryou. Luck, Yugi supposed, if that was what you wanted to call it. The same moment Yugi lifted the Millennium Puzzle again the spirit of the ancient Pharaoh had returned into it, leaving a pile consisting of the clothes he had been wearing. Among them large, golden earrings.

"Earrings?" Dobby wondered. "Are those these things you put in your ears?"

Yugi nodded and smiled. "I'll go and get them, wait there."

Yugi entered his room and dived under the bed to pull out a small trunk, when he opened it he wished he hadn't. There, staring back at him, was the duel-disk he hadn't used since the ritual duel. A split second Yugi wondered if he still would be able to duel equally well now as he had then, but he didn't truly doubt he would.

He lifted the duel-disk and put it next to the trunk. At the very bottom he found a plastic bag with Atem's clothes, inside that bag there was a smaller one containing the jewelery that Atem had been wearing, it was only a small fortune. Yugi shook his head, reminding himself that this was nothing to what he had seen inside the palace. Yugi took the earrings out of the plastic bag and walked back to Dobby.

"Here they are", Yugi said and sat down on one of the two chairs at the front of the desk, Dobby hopped up in the other one.

"They look heavy", the short creature noted. He reached out a finger to touch them but withdrew when he realized what he was doing.

"No, it's okay. Here, feel them." Yugi dropped the two pieces of gold in Dobby's hands.

"They are heavy!" Dobby yelped surprised. "They are very heavy indeed, Pharaoh sir. How could he carry them?"

/_You get used to it_/ Atem answered. /_Though when you take them of at night the first couple of times your ears hurt like hell. Though that might not count for you, your ears are quite different._/

"I think it's insane", Yugi told Dobby. "I've plainly refused to take holes in my ears just because of those." He pointed at the two things in Dobby's hands.

"Holes, sir?" Dobby said horrified and put the pieces of gold on the desk. "Do people actually make holes in their ears?"

/_Yeah, they do. It doesn't hurt that much though_/ Atem reassured Dobby. Then he made a suggestion. /_Some people do it themselves. If I, or Yugi perhaps, make some in yours you can have them. If you don't like them you can sell them and buy a whole lot of socks._/

"Doesn't it hurt?" Dobby asked, wringing his hands.

/_Not if you do it correctly_/ Atem said once again.

"Okay then", Dobby said, suddenly beaming. "Dobby will be the first house-elf to ever have gotten earrings from a Pharaoh!"

Yugi and Atem laughed simultaneously, the house-elf made them both in a good mood. Yugi went to get a needle, a candle and a tissue from his room. Then he took a bit of apple and an ice-cub from the many plates of food and bucket with pumpkin juice that Dobby had placed on the desk.

"First", Yugi started to instruct the nervous, yet eager, house-elf, "you numb one of your ears with this ice-cub so you won't feel anything. Just pinch your ear to try if it is numb enough."

Dobby did as instructed.

"When you think it's good enough I'll hold a bit of apple behind your ear to keep it from bleeding too much, it will only bleed a bit. Humans can in the beginning only bare light-weight earrings but house-elves' ears are much stronger and should have no problem with these. While you numb your ear I'll heat the needle, it will both easier penetrate the skin when hot and the heat will kill all the bacteria."

"Alright, Dobby is done", the house-elf squeaked eventually. The needle was hot and Yugi gripped the quarter apple and held it against Dobby's ear. He prepared himself to penetrate the ear of the short creature with the funny hats when someone knocked on the door.

/_Oh no, I forgot about them_/ Atem said hasty and withdrew into the puzzle.

"Who is it?" Dobby wondered curious.

"Wait a second!" Yugi called towards the door, then, turning towards Dobby: "Those are a couple of students I have to talk to. Let's just finish this first, they can wait. Ready?" Yugi didn't wait for an answer but swiftly pushed the needle through Dobby's ear. Dobby, who had been unprepared, screamed out loud.

Despite the fact that Dobby was a rather small creature he had an incredible voice capacity and Yugi was convinced that the entire castle had heard the scream. The result of the scream was that four figures came bursting into the office, wands raised. Luckily for Yugi the four were clever enough to evaluate the situation rather than jump to conclusions.

"What the hell", Harry called out panicked when he saw the rather odd scene in front of him.

Yugi didn't react to the teens but stayed calm and in the exact same spot as he was. He didn't think it would be a good idea to alarm the students further. "Did it hurt?" he asked Dobby calmly.

To Yugi surprise the house-elf shook his head. "No, Yugi, sir, Dobby was just surprised."

"Alright then", Yugi said with a smile. "next one too?"

Dobby nodded as the four teens were staring at the elf and the Japanese teacher who were having a rather odd conversation in their ears.

"Ready?" Yugi asked Dobby and once again he didn't wait for the elf to realize what happened until it already had. Once again Dobby gave a scream of surprise.

Yugi saw Hermione Granger close her eyes in distaste. Mister Potter frowned but none of the four said anything.

"Is Dobby done?" Dobby wondered and sighed in relieve when Yugi nodded.

"Here, try them", Yugi suggested and gave Dobby the earrings. "It'll be something different. How about it?"

"Thanks!" Dobby squeaked and Yugi was glad that Dobby was subtle enough not to mention the Pharaoh in any way. Then the house-elf turned to face the four Gryffindors. "Is Harry Potter, sir, in trouble?"

"Dobby, could you leave us please. I have to talk to them in private, though do come again sometime, it was nice", Yugi told the house-elf.

Dobby wasn't pleased but he obeyed, with a little nod of his head Dobby was gone.

Yugi stood up and looked at the four bewildered teenagers. He placed his hands on the desk and looked behind him at the food. Then he said, "Good that the house-elves prepared this much. We'll have a long talk."

* * *

><p>I really hoped you liked it. I had been planning putting the conversation between Yugi and the other four in this chapter but then Dobby hopped in and took their place.<p>

The Part about the Hitler Youth is true, kinda scary, isn't it?

Review please! I'm dutch, thus in a great need of drugs (prejudice has always amused me) and there is no drug more effective or addictive as Review!


	8. Rita Skeeter

So, I know this took a while to get this updated, but the length of this chapter makes up for that. It's around 9500 words long!  
>Despite that, I do have a few good excuses. For some reason they don't think that people who live 10 kilometers in the woods need electricity, it just disappeared for 28 hours and 45 minutes. The aftermath is a whole lot of hot chocolate, a fire and boardgames. I won at monopoly!<br>Besides that I also found a great Manga called Dengeki Daisy. I like that author, I've read Beast Master of the same person too and that's also really great. Beast Master is a bit shorter and really relaxed. Dengeki Daisy just get's you to think. Both are really funny a great for your inspiration.

Anyway, Enjoy the Chapter!

* * *

><p>The four Gryffindors were looking at him with a mixture of suspicion and fear.<p>

Yugi decided to ignore it and offered them an apple, they all turned it down. They weren't here to eat after all, they seemed to want answers just as much as Yugi did.

"Tell me, miss Granger, to who exactly was this letter of yours. It contains knowledge that should not leave this room, that shouldn't have left my mind. Please be honest, it's very important."

"Bill Weasley, Professor", Hermione Granger confessed.

"I've met him", Yugi noted slightly surprised. "He was at Kings Cross. Now, the four of you can enlighten me of the meaning of this letter."

Yugi read the thing once again carefully.

_'Dear Bill,_

_It sound like the two stories match. It would be quite the coincidence if they didn't. You already know what Professor Muto told me, so you know that too. There is no doubt that the story is true, the entire story, including the part about Zorc Necrophades I was told.  
>I've never heard about the Tablet of Lost Memories, but I might be able to help you in other ways.<br>Dean Thomas, a friend of ours, was the one to put the pieces together. I am able to inform you of what they meant with the Egyptian Gods. The Shadow Games, or trials, were resurrected in modern-day by a man called Maximillion Pegasus. He turned the Shadow Games into a card game called Duel Monsters. Pegasus created three cards that were the Egyptian Gods; Obelisk, the Tormentor; Slifer, the Sky Dragon and the Winged Dragon of Ra.  
>But it's not just that, thanks to Dean's knowledge of the game we've also been able to figure out who the current day Pharaoh is. <em>

_A couple of years ago the best duelist of the world stood victorious after the Battle City tournament. This tournament was a bit odd, it's a bit hard to explain to someone that isn't used to technology, let's just say that things occurred that weren't supposed to be possible. In addition I can prove that Ishizu Ishtar was a participant in this tournament and made it to the finals; so did Marik Ishtar.  
>By looking at facts around Battle City it's not hard to figure out who the Pharaoh was. The winner of the Battle City tournament would have all three Egyptian Gods. If what you say is correct and the Pharaoh obtained these cards then all we had to do is look at the person who won this tournament. The identity of this person is the very problem, he resides within the castle. As you said we know nearly nothing about him and could be foe just as much as he could be friend. We have good reasons to believe that the Pharaoh is Yugi Muto, the reigning King of Games and our History of Magic teacher. <em>

_Harry, Ron and I...'_

"Sorry Professor", Hermione Granger said. "but I'm quite sure that you understand the meaning of this letter."

Yugi gave short and harsh little laugh. "Yeah, I suppose I do." He sighed. "Show me the letter you replied to."

"Hermione I wouldn't..." Harry protested but Hermione had already handed Yugi the piece of parchment without hesitating.

"What's the use Harry. We can try to find out everything ourselves but that wont work, you know that just as well as I do."

"You said it yourself! We don't know whether he..."

"Harry", Hermione interrupted the green-eyed boy.

"Whether he is friends or foe", Yugi finished Harry's sentence. "You are not a very trusting person, are you?" Yugi started to read the letter and didn't mind that Harry didn't answer his question. Atem read the letter over Yugi's shoulder.

A couple of minutes later Yugi lowered the letter with a sickening feeling in his stomach.

/_Why would the Ishtars write down such a thing?_/ Atem wondered confused. /_They should have known it would give us away eventually. Why did they?_/

/_Isn't it obvious?_/ Yugi asked, his mind still on the letter and what it meant.

/_Yugi_/ Atem said, calling upon Yugi's attention. /_Why did they do it?_/

Yugi sighed and turned his back towards the Gryffindors as he walked towards the chair behind his desk and sat down. /_For the same reason I told miss Granger so much. You've made a great sacrifice and they don't want it to disappear in history. I just don't think they meant it to be found this early, probably they wanted to know that over a thousand years someone would find their tomb and read their history, publishing it so everyone would know what happened. They want to keep their part in history alive. I believe that if Ishizu or any of the others would have survived they would have asked us about your story too, so everyone would know what had happened. They'd write down the entire unbelievable thing. They just want everyone to know you, to think about you every now and then.  
>But it was found too early and things didn't end the way they were supposed to end. It's ironic, isn't it? We survived maniacs, people trying to destroy the world, murderers, everything! And at our final task, the only one that should have been without danger, we fail.<em>/

_/What happened to me was my own choice, no one needs to know it_/ Atem said displeased. /_I just did what was right, people do so all the time. I'm no different from the others._/

/_Yes you are, you sacrificed your life knowing you'd be stuck in eternal darkness. I know I wouldn't have been able to do so. You, and what you did, should not be forgotten_/ Yugi protested. /_Anyway, I don't think we need to worry about you being forgotten. On the contrary, we should worry about everyone getting to know you._/

He threw both Bill's letter and the one Hermione had started in the fire. Hermione quickly raised her wand to extinguish the fire but Yugi gripped her hand. "Let them burn. This knowledge will not leave this room. There is absolutely no reason for Bill to know all that. It's bad enough that they uncovered the tombs, there is a reason the desert's sands swallowed them. There is also a reason why the Shadow Creatures guard them, these tomb-robbers should have left when the first one of them died, these Shadow Creatures show no mercy for people who come to steal rather than to learn."

"Bill is no thief!" Ron Weasley called out angered.

"A man who takes something that does not belong to him is a thief", Yugi pointed out soberly. "Taking something for the one you work for or for yourself makes no difference. A thief is a thief."

Ron did not reply to that but looked away, angered.

"Alright, back to the matter at hand..." Yugi started but was interrupted by Dean Thomas.

"Are you him?" he wondered. "You must be, mustn't you. You know everything that's been going on and you have the Millennium puzzle."

Yugi looked at Dean in the eyes so that Dean could see that Yugi was telling the truth. "I'm not him. I wont deny that I know him, I know him very well. But it's not me as you assumed." He waited until he was certain that the words had gotten through to Dean before lowering his gaze back to the floor.

"Then how did you end up in all this?" Hermione wondered curiously.

"Thanks to the puzzle", Yugi said and fingered on a copy of the Daily Mail. "What happens to the tombs that were uncovered by your brother?" Yugi asked and looked at Ron.

"Well, some of the treasure they found will go to Gringotts. Then they will return the tombs to nearly the way they were before they uncovered them and inform the muggle government there that a new founding has been made. Then it's up to the muggles to uncover these tombs once again and decide what to do with them, I suppose some will be protected, others will be opened for tourists and the things they find inside will probably go to museums and such", Ron explained. "Here the findings will be published in the Daily Mail, people find this interesting."

"So you mean that the Ishtar history in addition to the events of Battle City will be published for anyone to read?" Yugi asked incredulous.

"Yeah, probably. The legends about what happened five thousand years ago too. Including what Hermione told him", Ron confessed. He seemed to realize exactly how displeased Yugi was with that and he was fidgeting.

"I hope you realize that I can't let that happen, right?" Yugi asked the four of them. "If anyone had access to that information and happens to have followed Battle City it would mean they all could reason like you. I don't want people to know what happened."

Hermione frowned at that. "Professor Muto, you're right. Everyone would be able to figure out what we just figured out. Someone will probably jump to conclusions and everything could go wrong, but Professor, actually we know nothing at all. You told us what happened five thousand years ago making it sound as if you just randomly picked it up somewhere and we read speculations and found some facts around Battle City and whatever happened four years ago. To be honest, we know nothing."

Harry nodded and frowned too. "Professor, I don't want to sound disrespectful, but this is a dangerous point your standing on. If this story get's published everyone will know enough to know that you are dangerous, but nothing else."

/_They are right_/ Atem commented. /_People kill what they fear. They will fear us unless we explain some more_/

/_I preferably had that no one knew anything at all_/ Yugi said dryly. /_Though you and Potter are right. Okay then, I'll tell them a bit more. I won't tell them everything, but enough for them to make them understand. I won't spill a word about you being with me, okay? Feel free to object_/

/_I'm fine with it_/ Atem said softly.

"I know you're right, doesn't look like I've much of a choice but to tell you more. Don't even think about me telling you the entire story, some things still only I know and it will stay that way", Yugi warned them and walked towards the door that led too his room. He placed a hand upon it to push it open, he hadn't thought about the fact that students being present in the room would activate the password.

_'Ishizu!'_ the door squeaked loudly, to Yugi's great astonishment and he wished the door could have shut up.

"You had to do that now? You never do!" Yugi complained thoroughly pissed off.

_'You're normally alone!' _the door replied confused. _'Then there is no use asking.'_

"Not now either, it was me who tried to open!" Yugi growled at the big, white door.

_'How can I tell? The rooms have never been this bright'_

"Your worse than the bed!" Yugi sighed and took out the Exchange of the Spirit card and showed it to the door. "Satisfied?"

The door was wise enough not to reply and simply opened.

"Wait here until I call you", Yugi told the four Gryffindors. He closed the door and hurried into his room. He put his duel-disk back into the little trunk and shoved it back under his bed. Then he took a thin sheet from a drawer and covered up his duplicate of the Tablet of Lost Memories.

"Alright! Come in", Yugi called over his shoulder at the closed door.

"Eh, Professor", Yugi heard Dean calling from the other side of the door. "The door asks about a guy named Kaiba!"

Yugi cursed under his breath in imaginative Japanese and went to open the door. "Sorry about the door", Yugi said as the four Gryffindors entered his room.

"Wow", Ron said as he entered. "This looks a bit like one of the rooms in the palace Bill showed us when we were in Egypt when I was in third year. It had this long room with enormous carvings showing all the Pharaoh's that had ruled Egypt, one didn't have a name though."

"The one after was called Set and the one before Aknamkanon. Set was the nameless Pharaoh's cousin and Aknamkanon his father. The room is inspired from that castle, you could say that I live in the past", Yugi remarked.

"Why?" Ron and Harry asked simultaneously as they stood in the center of the room, looking around.

"Because the last four years hold nothing but grief. The past was better, easier, somehow", Yugi answered and twitched his mouth.

"The muggle world says you disappeared four years ago, after a tomb collapsed.", Dean said. "Is that correct?"

"It certainly is no lie", Yugi said with a frown. "Though it's definitely not the entire truth. See those pictures above the desk?"

There had been no point in him asking, Hermione had been staring at them, looking troubled. She poked Ron in the side just as Yugi asked about them.

"All these people died that day. You see the three in the middle? They were the best friends a person could wish for and now they're dead. So is grandpa, to the right, and Otogi and the Ishtars, and Kaiba." Yugi pointed out each individual. "Nearly everyone I cared about was there when the tomb collapsed, the only survivors were Ryou Bakura, Mokuba Kaiba and me. They, in addition to Rebecca, are the only ones I've got left."

"But why did you disappear?" Dean wondered. "Why didn't you just attend their funerals and pay your respect like anyone else would have?"

Yugi sat down on the chair and took the picture that was on the desk. "This was taken after Battle City, we had a very peaceful period at that time. It didn't last all too long though." Yugi sighed, knowing he had to get down to the point and he was painfully reminded of last Wednesday. "The reasons I didn't go to their funerals was because I was busy with things I found more important at the time, now I regret not coming. My friends didn't die when the tomb collapsed, they were already dead at that point. All of these people on the wall were murdered, I tried, still try, to find their killer."

The four Gryffindors were staring at him while gaping. "But how? Why? … Who?"

Hermione seemed to be unaware about her asking these things but Yugi smiled a bit. "Are you surprised? You shouldn't have been, each and every one of them knew about the powers of the Shadows and it was that what killed them. They weren't the first ones to fall at his hands, he's been very active last year, you should know who I mean."

Harry knew very well who Professor Muto was referring to, but for the first time this year he felt the need to deny the truth about Voldemort. "You mean Voldemort?"

Dean and Ron winced at the name, something that troubled Yugi slightly. It would be hard for them to ever stand up to him if they even feared his name.

/_Many people feared the name of Zorc too, yet they stood up to him. The same might count for these people_/ Atem reassured Yugi.

Yugi didn't consciously react to Atem's words, but acknowledged them nonetheless. "I am glad to inform you that Voldemort is still unaware of the powers of the Shadows, I must say that they surpass the powers that wizards and witches posses by far. A servant of his acted on his own account when he sensed the powers in the tomb, it's a mere coincidence that I survived. Albus Dumbledore kept me from meeting a certain death when I started to search for someone in a world I did not know."

"That explains a lot", Hermione murmured. "The reason you are here is for your own protection!"

Yugi laughed silently. "Miss Granger, for someone so clever you are being a bit naive. The reason Dumbledore asked me to come was more so the powers of the Shadows could be used to aid his side of the coming war rather than for my protection. Dumbledore can be quite cold hearted if he has to be. He cares a lot more about his students than about me, he made that clear to me before he offered me the job so I do not blame him."

The four students were staring at him, disbelieving. "That can't be..."

"Can't it? Haven't you ever noticed it before? Albus Dumbledore would kill the innocent if it meant that all this ended. I'd rather have him killing me than anyone else, after all, this is my fight to now, I accepted it and now Rebecca showed up I even have personal ties to the battle about to strike down on all of us", Yugi replied with a hint of a smile on his face.

These words left the students in deep thoughts and Ron sat down at the round table. The other three were staring at the ground, frowning.

"What exactly is Rebecca's part in this?" Hermione wondered.

"Rebecca tumbled head over heels into something she should have stayed away from. I got to know her after Duelist Kingdom, she was very mad at my grandfather at the time. Yet that issue we solved. Her grandfather made a great discovery later, which nearly destroyed everything we know. Has any of you heard about the monster-sightings. They were blaming Kaiba Corporation's holographic system, but I can assure you that these beasts were quite real.

"I've heard about them", Dean said, looking up at the Professor. "Though I assumed that it was Kaiba Corp. What else could it have been?"

"Sit down, all of you", Yugi said as he stood up and made a sweeping gesture towards the round table. The three still standing sat down and Yugi pulled out a chair for himself. He waited until he had their full attention before he continued. "It certainly wasn't Kaiba Corp., yet that doesn't matter right now. The discovery Arthur Hawkins made was about the ancient city of Atlantis and a great beast called Leviathan who tried to destroy the world. The Leviathan ordered to a power called the Orichalcos, which is able to corrupt minds. Ten thousand years ago the Orichalcos corrupted a man called Dartz, he was prince of Atlantis and he destroyed it with leviathan, but before he could destroy the entire world Leviathan was sealed by three knights. Now this isn't important so I will not bother you with this part of the story; what you should know is that Dartz didn't die, he kept walking this earth, hunting for souls that would eventually resurrect Leviathan. Dartz only had one problem, he needed one powerful soul to trigger the resurrection; it took him five thousand year to find one, but he did."

"The Pharaoh", Hermione whispered fascinated. "But why was, or is, his soul stronger than the others?"

"There is an explanation to that, though I must say that it's very complicated. A person consists out of Ka and Ba. Ka is a kind of spirit or monster that reflects the nature of the person they come from, Ba is the energy of the soul; these two together form a humans soul. How strong your Ka is depends on your Ba; the Ba of the Pharaoh was incredibly strong."

Harry and Ron looked equally fascinated as Hermione had been just a second ago, but now both she and Dean were looking angry. Yugi, who had read Bill's letter wasn't too surprised.

"What happens if you lock away someones Ka?" the brunette wondered accusing.

"Their Ba remains, so they don't die, you just take away their personality, their free will. For a human being that is a very unpleasant experience, that's why it was used as punishment on heavy criminals. Of course, because you half a persons soul they will never be very strong again in their character or will, but to those criminals the only alternative was that they'd be executed", Yugi said calmly, fully understanding their anger and distrust.

/_I never thought you would have to defend the methods used in what once was my kingdom_/ Atem sniggered.

"The power you control is that of stolen souls!" Hermione accused, clearly disgusted and horrified.

"I do not control the Shadows! You must have that very clear to you!" Yugi said sharply. "Only the Pharaoh controls them! Besides that, I have never claimed that the power of the Shadows was a good power, there is a reason why it's called for Shadow Magic. It's a dark power that he doesn't like using." Yugi's eyes narrowed, he had never been frightening before, but he clearly intimidated the four Gryffindors.

/_I feel bad telling them what you think. Its sounds like I think for you and you have no will of your own_/ Yugi confessed to Atem.

/_Don't worry, partner, you know me nearly just as well as I know myself. You haven't said anything I disagree on yet_/ Atem assured Yugi.

Yugi took a deep breath. "Back to Rebecca. Dartz wanted the Pharaoh's soul and professor Hawkins knew it. He came to Domino to visit me and my friends. He warned the Pharaoh about the fact that what was going on had something to do with him. When the Pharaoh's spirit was freed Dartz started to steal peoples souls at random and these people were hospitalized, among those were people we knew. We traveled to the U.S because Pegasus had information that would be able to help us but when got there Pegasus had already been claimed by the Orichalcos." Yugi stopped there, he didn't want to tell them about the Dragons, neither about Mai. He didn't want to tell them much at all. "Rebecca and her Grandfather were attacked by Dartz and his men, they blew up his house to destroy the evidence of Atlantis existing and kidnapped him. He challenged the Pharaoh to a duel in Death Valley and said that professor Hawkins would be allowed to return if he showed up. The Orichalcos dueled, too, there is a long explanation to why they did but I it isn't important. That duel didn't go very well, it was awful to be honest, the Pharaoh made a mistake and normally he would have lost his soul; I took his place instead. See, I don't remember much of what happened after that, I just know that it ended well."

"There is more to it isn't there?" Hermione wondered.

Yugi nodded. "There is a whole lot more to it, but I wont tell you everything. But perhaps … Dartz and his men tried to convince the Pharaoh that he was evil, that he was the reason for Egypt's near destruction. The Pharaoh had no memories at that time and though he denied it he couldn't know for sure at all. Dartz aimed to make the Pharaoh give up his soul willingly but he failed. Dartz was convinced that if the Pharaoh would gaze down in his soul all he'd find would be darkness, but that was incorrect and thus the Pharaoh prevailed." Yugi shrugged and thought back to the duel with Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom and the one with Raphael in Death Valley. "I will not deny, neither would he, that he is a dark person. He can be very cold and unforgiving, when he recently returned people even died due to him, but as he returned to the light outside the puzzle the light in his heart returned too. In Death Valley the light wavered and the consequences were severe, my soul was taken and the darkness inside the Pharaoh had awoken. He took the first step to defeating the darkness rather soon, but Rebecca, who hadn't known the Pharaoh earlier, doubted that he wouldn't be consumed by darkness again. She still doubts the good in his heart, she has never seen him in any other way than while he was blown away with grief and struggling to suppress his own dark side. Not the best of times to get to know him."

"What happened to the Orichalcos?" Ron wondered.

"It was destroyed when Dartz broke free from its corruption. I told you it ended well, all the souls were set free." Yugi had had enough of explaining and asked Ron: "Will everyone find out about the Shadow Games?"

"Yes, about how it was used in ancient Egypt and how it works, everything", Ron answered. "We already told you so."

Something dawned upon Yugi and Atem simultaneously and Yugi touched the little red bag around his neck in which he kept the Millennium Items. /_He can't know!_/ Atem said, suddenly nervous. /_Lucius Malfoy will know it's us right away! There is no telling what would happen!_/

"Go to class, tell no one what you heard here, it's very important. Mister Weasley, when will this be published?" Yugi asked in a hurry.

"I believe Rita Skeeter is interviewing Bill today at her office, around lunch he said."

Yugi swore in Japanese and said: "Tell Dumbledore that my classes are canceled for the rest of the day. I have something to do." He nearly pushed the students out of the door. Once the door closed Yugi called lowly: "Dobby! Dobby?"

He hadn't expected it to work but somehow it did. Dobby appeared in front of him out of nowhere. "What is it, Yugi, sir? Why is Yugi, sir, looking so afraid?"

"Dobby, can you get me to Diagon Alley?" Yugi asked the house-elf.

Dobby shook his head. "Only outside castle grounds, sir", he said.

"How far is that?" Yugi wondered anxiously.

"To the gates, beyond there it should be possible. Dobby does not wish to pry, but why does Yugi, sir, want to go to Diagon Alley?" Dobby asked curiously.

"To protect my secret Dobby, if I don't hurry everyone will know, what's more important is that Voldemort will know too!"

Dobby winced at the name but didn't object.

/_If Voldemort knows about me he would certainly try to get his hands on the Dark Powers I guard. We have to prevent that from happening_/ Atem explained to the house-elf.

"Let's go!" Dobby squeaked eager. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can't get his hands on that kind of power!"

"Exactly Dobby! Let's go!"

The rather odd pair hurried through the corridors, then over the grounds and Yugi could only pray that no one would see them, or worse, stop them.

They reached the grounds faster than Yugi had hoped for due to the fact that he left the running to Atem. Dobby wasn't pleased by the fact that Yugi suddenly disappeared but he understood the importance of the situation and Yugi promised himself that he would explain to Dobby how it worked.

/_Do you want to do this or shall I?_/ Atem wondered.

/_You should, I believe she'll be more impressed by you than by me._/

"Yugi, sir?" Dobby wondered surprised. "Why is you a spirit now?"

/_Eh, I'll explain another time_/ Yugi told the house-elf.

"Okay, off to Diagon Alley. Give me your hand, Pharaoh, sir", Dobby said and reached out one of his own. Atem took it firmly and before he knew it he was standing in front of the office of the Daily Prophet in Diagon Alley. Atem didn't hesitate a moment but hurried into the building, closely followed by Dobby.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw how huge the office was. He stared around and a feeling of hopelessness surrounded his heart. How was he ever going to find the office of Rita Skeeter?

/_Don't worry, we'll find it_/ Yugi said, but he sounded too uncertain to be reassuring.

"Dobby? What are you doing here?" a man asked utterly surprised.

Yugi appeared next to Atem in spirit form and looked around to find the owner of the voice; it sounded familiar and for some reason he suddenly felt ice-cold.  
>Dobby started shaking as a tall man with long blonde hair appeared in front of them. It took Atem all his self-control not to unleash the anger he felt towards this man; gazing down on them was no one less but Lucius Malfoy himself.<p>

"You filthy elf, how dare you show yourself in the same place as me! You are not worthy of such a thing!"

Atem, who until that point had been to worried about being recognized to do something, put himself in front of Dobby and nearly snarled at the wizard. "He's a free elf, he has just as much right to be here as you do!"

/_Calm down!_/ Yugi warned Atem, yet somewhere Yugi was hoping that Atem would unleash all the powers that he possessed on this man. Because of their close link Atem was well aware of that and it didn't make things easier on him, on the contrary, it became even harder for him to control his anger.

Dobby noticed this and pulled at the black cape Yugi was wearing. "Please, sir, master Malfoy was my previous master, Dobby is use to this."

These words didn't really have the effect that Dobby wanted too. Lucius Malfoy had been taken aback by the red dead glare that was send his way but when Dobby spoke he gathered himself. Atem himself got even more angered by Dobby's words, he couldn't believe that anyone would treat Dobby in such a horrible way.

/_That such a man would mistreat his inferiors was to be expected. He is heartless enough to kill for fun, how he treats other people is nothing in compare_/ Yugi said, trying to calm himself just as much as he was trying to calm Atem.

"Yugi, eh?" Lucius Malfoy smirked suddenly. "My son has told me about you, you are the muggle teacher at Hogwarts. How pathetic."

"Stop bullying people better than you, Malfoy", another person said amused, yet annoyance was to be found just underneath the surface and Yugi could swear that he even heard disgust.

Lucius turned around with dislike written over his face. "Weasley, this is none of your business. Don't interfere."

Bill Weasley was standing behind Lucius and he had an amused smile on his face that still showed exactly how low Bill thought of Lucius.

"It is my business, I wouldn't want you to play a dirty trick on a good person, like you did to Ginny", Bill said, his voice low and sharp.

/_What happened to Ginny?_/ Yugi asked and thought about the bright Gryffindor in fourth year.

"Lucius Malfoy tried to get her killed three years ago as a sacrifice to resurrect You-Know-Who", Dobby whispered. "Harry Potter saved her and Dobby helped. After she was saved Harry Potter freed Dobby."

Atem was certain that if he got any angrier than he already was he would soon starts seeing red. "Such a cruel man!"

"Yes", Dobby whispered. "Very much." Then, for a reason Yugi couldn't understand Dobby ran towards the wall and started hitting his head against it. A smug smile appeared on Lucius' face and Atem glared at him as he ran after the elf who was receiving many weird glances.

"Stop! Dobby, stop!" Atem caught Dobby in a firm grip with both arms and pulled him away from the wall. "Calm down! What's with you?"

It took a while, but eventually the elf calmed down and together they walked back towards the fighting duo. Just before they reached them Lucius turned around and walked out the entrance of the office. Yugi, Atem and Dobby were all a bit shaken by the encounter and Bill was looking from Dobby to Atem, waiting for one of them to actually say anything. Atem was the first to gather himself. "Can you tell us where we can find Rita Skeeter?"

"Eh, sure, that way", Bill said and pointed. "Aren't you the new History of Magic teacher?"

"Yes, but I don't have time to talk, I'm in quite a hurry." Atem was already ready to sprint towards Rita Skeeter's office when he realized that he had to talk to Bill too. He slowly turned around. "You can't let the Egyptian government know about the tombs you discovered. There is a reason why the desert swallowed them, heed my warning and stop them from being uncovered once again!"

"Listen, Bill Weasley, sir", Dobby squeaked. "Don't tell, keep it as a secret in your head!"

"Thanks, Dobby." Atem was surprised by the fact that he was actually touched by Dobby's words. Then he gazed into Bill's eyes and knew that his own crimson eyes would give him away, but it was necessary. "Your brother Ron can explain further, but do not inform the Egyptian government about the tombs that you uncovered!" All Atem could do was pray that the curse-breaker would listen to his pleas and was off to find Rita Skeeter.

He ran through the corridor that Bill had pointed at with Dobby on his heals and tried to read all the signs as he passed them. He cursed the fact that everything looked the same. Didn't these wizards ever do something original? The floor was made out of slippery white marble and he was close to falling several times. He also ran into many wizards and witches that seemed to be in just as much of a hurry as he was himself. Apparently running into people was normal and no one became angry, neither did they apologize. It was Dobby's presence alone that made clear to the other people that Atem didn't belong there, the good thing was that many were in too much of a hurry to notice Dobby who skillfully avoided being run over by hasty witches and wizards.

Eventually he found Rita Skeeters office, he didn't bother knocking but just went in. A heavy-jawed woman with jeweled glasses and curly blond hair looked up, rather surprised at the sudden intrusion. Atem closed the door behind himself silently and turned around to face her. He felt an immediate dislike towards the woman.

"Who are you?" she wondered and placed her face on her hand. For some reason she didn't mind him coming in and that made Atem feel uneasy. A green quill arose above a blank piece of paper and seemed ready to take notes.

"That does not matter", Atem said with a voice as cold as he could manage. For some reason he wasn't able to find his usual amused and self-assured attitude. It was something with that woman's self-assured smile that made him lose his own, it was weird, it wasn't like he hadn't dealt with self-assured people before.

He was distracted as the quill started to take notes. He had been sure that he hadn't said anything interesting.

"I'm quite sure it does. Ah, an elf, what's your name?" the woman asked and Atem now noticed why the woman was so self-assured, she had already found his weakness.

Dobby opened his mouth to answer her but Yugi was faster: /_Don't tell her Dobby! She will get you __in trouble! You should leave, come back in an hour okay?_/

"Okay", Dobby said displeased and disappeared.

Rita frowned, the easiest way to get information had disappeared, though Atem could not rejoice over that because the quill didn't seize to take notes. "Then perhaps you would bother to tell me why you came in here unannounced?" she asked sourly.

"I'm here to keep a secret", Atem said, took several steps forward and placed both hands on the desk. "One you are busy to reveal."

"You mean about the nameless Pharaoh and the Shadow Games?" she wondered with a sugar sweet voice. "That's the article that is going to save my job."

Atem's eyes narrowed and he his self-assurance appeared with full strength when he realized what could happen if this woman was allowed to do as she pleased. "No, it won't. Find another story."

Rita sat up straight and sighed deeply. "Sit down, let's discuss this thoroughly. You see, I don't want to lose my job, yet I understand that you want to keep your secrets. Here, have a drink."

Atem did as he was told and sat down, though he didn't like following someone else's orders, he didn't want to play a game either. He lifted the glass of water that stood before him to his lips and took a sip. He noticed at once that the taste was wrong, he dropped the glass and realized that the game had begun as soon as he came in. He had broken a very important rule: Don't play on the terms of your opponent. Now he was too late and he knew that he had given her exactly what she wanted.

"Now, tell me, who are you?" Rita asked with a triumphant smile all over her face.

"My name is Atem, son of king Aknamkanon and former Pharaoh of upper and lower Egypt. Now I am a mere spirit seeking revenge", Atem confessed to Yugi's great surprise.

Rita laughed out loud. "Oh, wow. It looks like the Veritaserum has taken effect. I knew it would show itself useful eventually."

Atem stood up to leave as soon as he could but Rita Skeeter was faster. "_Colloportus!_" she yelled with her wand pointed towards the door. "Now you can't get out until I let you!" She seemed rather pleased with herself.

"You're lucky it's me, Shadi would have killed you", Atem said disgusted, but he wasn't giving either Rita nor Shadi much thought; he desperately tried to find a way out.

"Are you the Pharaoh that Bill Weasley told me about?" she asked, ignoring him.

"Yes, I would think so." Atem was pissed by the fact that he couldn't simply not answer her.

"Oh, how wonderful. Does anyone else know who you truly are?" Rita wondered curiously.

"Yes, to various degrees. Yugi Muto, Bakura Ryou, Mokuba Kaiba, Amelda, Maximillion Pegasus, Rebecca Hawkins, Raphael, Arthur Hawkins, Kujaku Mai and Jonouchi Shizuka."

"How interesting", Rita said and the quill was writing down things so fast that it blurred. "Is any of these people important to you in a special way?"

"Yugi is", Atem said, his voice was filled with an unmeasurable hatred towards this woman.

"What way?" she asked with a sickening tone.

/_She's being suggestive_/ Yugi said disbelieving.

"Bitch! I love Yugi more than anyone I know. He's my best friend, my brother. He keeps me in the light! Hadn't it been for his light I would have killed you now without hesitating!"

Rita was slightly taken aback by that and she gripped her wand more firmly. "No love in your life then?"

/_I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. This is unbelievable! She can ask you anything and she asks you this?_/ Somewhere in Yugi's mind it felt really surreal and he was certain that he would doubt that this actually ever happened when it was over.

/_I know_/ Atem answered Yugi, then, answering Rita: "I've never permitted myself to ever see things that way. It would feel as abuse of kindness. After all, I'm dead and not suppose to be here anymore."

"What do you mean with abuse of kindness?" Rita asked smiling like a cat that had caught a mouse.

"I'm dead. I have no body and my soul resides in a puzzle. I possess a kind person that has been more understanding and enduring with me than I had any right of even hoping", Atem was forced to explain. "Falling in love with someone, feeling a desire for a person would feel very wrong. This is Yugi's life, not mine."

"So you possess Yugi, is he present?" Rita asked, she placed her hand on her palm again and kept smiling.

"Yes, he is. He's standing right here next to me", Atem said and wished he could swallow the words, but the Veritaserum forced him to speak them.

"Is he affected by the Veratiserum?" Rita asked curious.

"I don't know", Atem said hasty before Yugi could reply.

"Yugi, wherever you are, are you affected by the Veratiserum?" she asked looking at the spot where she thought Yugi was standing.

Yugi didn't say anything which made clear for Atem that his lighter wasn't affected. Rita repeated the question she had asked Atem earlier.

"No, he isn't", he confessed and was pleased by Rita's sour expression.

"That's too bad. Let's see..." She picked up the notes that she had taken during her interview with Bill and went through them. "These Millennium Items, how many are there?"

"Seven", Atem said, glad that he didn't have to say more than that. Yet he would have preferred for Rita to have asked him personal questions meant to embarrass him than those that could actually do some damage.

"Bill mentioned a rod, a necklace and a puzzle. What others are there and who has them?" The green quill was now moving so fast that it nearly was invisible.

"There is a Puzzle, this one." Atem put a hand on it. "It contains my soul. There are the Rod and the Necklace, in addition to those there are the Scales, the Key, the Eye and the Ring. I have them all."

"You say that the Puzzle contains your soul, what would happen if I took the Puzzle and smashed it?" she suggested. "Don't look so alarmed, I have no intention of doing so!" She gave a little laugh, it wasn't as annoying as Umbridge's, but it was a worthy opponent.

"I'm not sure what it would do to my conscious mind, but my soul would be locked away in a labyrinth of darkness once again."

"What a terrible fate", Rita said and for a moment she sounded compassionate. "Have you been spending five thousand years like that?"

"Yes", Atem said coolly.

"Oh", Rita said and was for a moment out of words. The quill started writing slower. "What happens if Yugi dies?"

"We've been wondering that ourselves", Atem confessed. "I honestly wouldn't know."

"Hm, such a problem. Wouldn't the puzzle go to someone else?" Rita wondered.

"No, I'm sure Bill told you how these items were forged. They contain a very dark will and they do not obey anyone, if they deem you unworthy they'll kill the one that tries to use it. No, I wouldn't know what would happen to me."

Rita sighed disappointed. "I was hoping for a scandal and I get a sob-story, my usual luck. What's there more to ask. Ah, yes, here. You are the wielder of the Shadows, aren't you?"

Atem nodded.

"Well, then why did so many Curse-breakers die? Are you a wicked person?" Rita had found herself a new possibility to a scandal and was holding on to it with all her might.

Atem dug his hands in his pockets. "People have tried to make me believe that I was a wicked Pharaoh before I regained my memory, but I wasn't. My reign was very short, a tomb-robber with an unusual strong Ka attacked the country and later he got possessed by Zorc Necrophades, an eons old demon, who took the darkness in the tomb-robbers heart to get himself a body. The tomb-robber died. Zorc was so strong that I couldn't defeat him and I locked him away instead, certainly Egypt was destroyed under my reign, but not due to me; I saved it. Though you know all that. No, I was not wicked. As for the Shadows that killed the Curse-breakers; the Shadows obey me, but they have a will of their own and they do what they can to protect their secrets. I suppose I could have prevented it if I had known, but I don't think I would have, I would have warned them of course, but that's all."

"Tss, it's no fun that you reply to everything with such a boring answer. What was your family relation like?"

"I loved my dad, he gave his health and eventually his life so I wouldn't have to take the punishment of the creation of the Millennium Items. I don't remember my mum too much, she died when I was an infant. All I know about her is what my dad told me. I had an uncle that betrayed us, as you know and a cousin that I didn't know about until just a day before I died. I gave him the crown before I sealed my soul."

"What did your father tell you about your mother?" Rita asked, clearly hoping to find some juicy gossip.

/_You've never told me about them_/ Yugi said and sat down on the ground, listening closely to what Atem had to tell.

/_You never asked_/ Atem replied as usual.

Yugi shook his head and chose not to comment.

"My mum and dad knew each other since birth and were engaged since that time too because mum was from a good family. They had always been good friends, but they didn't love each other, not even when they married. Both mum and dad loved someone else and they both knew it from each other. Dad loved a servant girl but didn't dare tell her because there was a risk that she would be executed, that servant girl never found out. Mum loved another man from a good family; though would that be discovered both mum and that man would have been executed. For mum's sake my father got to know the man and invited him over when mum and dad went outside the country for visits at other courts and such, there mum and her beloved could be together without risk of being discovered. Mum and dad have always been best friends and very good to each other, but it stayed at that. Dad grieved a lot when she died, she was the person he trusted most."

Yugi and Rita were gaping at Atem with disbelieve. "Oh, dear, a court scandal", Rita said eventually. The quill was very pleased and started taking notes on top speed again.

"That's no scandal. That were two friends who respected the each other's feelings", Atem said dryly.

"Are you sure that you are your father's son?" Rita asked to Atem's great astonishment.

"Yes!" he growled at her. "I'm too much alike him not to be!"

"Easy, easy!" Rita said, in an attempt to calm Atem down. "So your cousins beloved died in the war? What happened?"

"I don't know! Stop prying!" Atem yelled as he felt the effect of the Veritaserum slowly withdraw. "You have interrupted our lives long enough! Are you going to print this story?"

"Of course, with all this information I've gotten out of you I can secure my job and earn a nice bonus. You work at Hogwarts, don't you? I wonder what the students will think about part of their teacher being an ancient spirit? Can I speak to Yugi a moment? Oh, no, wait. How do the modern Shadow Games work?"

"Let's play one and find out", Atem said and Rita knew that with the Veritaserum the last of her power over him had gone. Now she was reduced to the prey and she had angered the predator a lot, she had a feeling that she would come to regret this.

Before the blonde's eyes the office disappeared. They were standing in room with no walls, floor or ceiling, they were surrounded by newspaper articles. Both of them were standing in front of a huge piece of parchment, at least six people would fit on each if they laid down. Two gigantic quick-quotes quills were resting at the upper right corner of the parchments.

"This is a Shadow Game. You can yell and scream as much as you want, we are in a different realm now. Let me explain to you the rules of this game, they are fairly simple. We both have our individual piece of paper, the quills will start to fill them with each lie we have ever expressed, both written and verbally. The one who first has his paper filled will lose, the more you try to deny your lies the faster the quill will move. For every word the quill writes the secrets you discovered both from me and Bill will be erasing both from your notes in your office and from your mind. Once your paper is filled the entire story will be gone and so will your memories from this game and our encounter. If you win I'll tell you everything you want to know, I'll even take Veratiserum if you deem it necessary."

Atem knew that he would most likely win this game, he doubted that he had lied enough to even fill the paper and he felt no need to hide his lies anymore.

"Ready, start!"

Atem looked satisfied at his own quill as it started to write things down very slowly, a first grader wrote faster. To his great satisfaction Rita's quill moved fast and the text had already covered a fifth of the paper. Atem could nearly see Rita try to hold on to the knowledge she had as it slipped away.

"No!" she yelled. "I don't want to forget!"

The page was filled halfway already, while Atem's quill was still busy on the first sentence. Atem closed his eyes as he listened to Rita's screams and sobs. It filled him with a kind of cruel satisfaction which he shunned hastily. He was not cruel. Atem didn't open his eyes until he felt a disturbance in the game, Rita had broken the rules. Atem sighed as he watched Rita's fruitless attempts to stop the quill from moving. She walked over the page and held the quill with both arms. The quill just kept moving and knocked Rita's glasses off when it started at a new line.

"I should have told you, the Shadow Games are merciless on cheaters." The quill finished it's last sentence and disappeared.

"Who are you?" Rita wondered groggily.

"Penalty game! Illusion of realization!" Atem whispered and the Shadows disappeared. What Rita saw was reflected in her glasses: she was as big as an ant and was crawling on hands and knees over an article that was all about her, written from the most negative point of view. The real Rita was sitting in her chair with closed eyes.

Atem checked the notes and saw to his satisfaction that they were all blank. Just to be certain he took the blank pages with him and he turned to leave as Rita started screaming. She was still seeing the illusion, but now it started getting at her. Atem didn't know how much time he had before someone would enter and was looking around for a way to get out just as Dobby appeared next to him.

Atem relinquished Yugi's body to Yugi and Yugi smiled at the house-elf. "Dobby! You're an angel. Let's go!"

Dobby smiled broadly at being called an angel and said: "Leave it to Dobby, sir!"

* * *

><p>I wrote quite a lot on what happens during the Wakening the Dragons Arc, mostly because not everyone knows about that Arc 'cause it's not part of the manga, only the anime. Yet that arc is quite important (and somewhat my favorite, it's so sad!) in this fic.<p>

It took me more than a week to write down the first 3,5 thousand words and in little less then four hours I'm at the 5,5. Conclusion: I hate writing conversations, though that one between Atem and that terrible Skeeter woman went really well.

I was so pleased with the story about Atem's parents, for some reason I always pictured their relationship that way.

To me this Shadow Game worked, what's your opinion?

So I believe anyone should be able to find something in this chapter worth commenting on (feel free to comment everything, yes please!) so none of you has an excuse not to comment.


	9. The Prophecy

It feels like it took me ages to update this story, I have an excuse, but I don't think the excuse would be glad if I gave him.  
>I'm not going to fill all this space with pointless ramble, neither am I giving heads up for the next chapter, clues etc. Those people will have to review.<p>

I hope you enjoy anyway.

* * *

><p>Harry had never had a more odd teacher in his life and it was about that teacher he was thinking as he entered the Divination classroom. His mind was filled with everything that he had been told as he pulled out his dream diary. He felt sorry for Professor Muto, Harry could only imagine how it would be like to have everyone he cared about being taken away from him. It was a horrifying thought and once again he thought about the Bogart that had appeared before Mrs. Weasley, showing her dead people. Dead Ron, dead Bill, dead Mr. Weasley, dead Fred and George, dead Percy... It had been a painful experience for Harry to walk into a room to see Ron lying dead on the floor, it still was a painful experience even though it simply had been a Bogart. Professor Muto had actually <em>lived <em>such an experience and had to live with it every day. Harry shuddered.

Suddenly Ron elbowed him in the ribs. The class fell silent as Professor Umbridge emerged through the trap door holding a clipboard.

"Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney", Professor Umbridge said, smiling widely. "You received my note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?"

Professor Trelawney nodded and started the class nervously. They were supposed to interpret each others dreams but neither Harry nor Ron gave their task much attention. Both were more interested by Umbridge who was questioning Trelawney merciless as she kept making notes on her clipboard. Eventually the two teachers came close enough for Harry and Ron to hear.

"Now", Umbridge said, looking up at Trelawney, "you've been in this post how long, exactly?"

"Nearly sixteen years", Trelawney said in a deeply resentful tone after a little pause.

"Quite a period", Umbridge said and her thick hand moved steadily over the clipboard. "So it was Dumbledore who appointed you?"

"That's right", Trelawney whispered and Ron and Harry gave up even pretending to be doing their task.

"And you are a great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated seer Cassandra Trelawney?"

"Yes", Trelawney answered holding her head slightly higher.

"But I think – correct me if I am mistaken – that you are the first in your family since Cassandra to be possessed of the Second Sight?" Umbridge wondered with a triumphant smile on her toad-like face.

"These things often skip – er – three generations", Trelawney said, not convincing anyone but Parvati and Lavender. Umbridge's smile widened.

"Of course", she said sweetly and made another note. "Well, if you could just predict something for me, then?"

"I don't understand you", Professor Trelawney claimed and clutched at her shawl.

The entire class was watching, some students less conspicuous than others, but they all had their gazes transfixed on the teachers. Professor Trelawney did an attempt to be impressing as she drew herself up to her full height. "The Inner Eye does not See upon command!" she sounded scandalized.

"I see", Umbridge said softly and turned.

"I – but – but … wait!" Professor Trelawney called out suddenly. Her voice changed to how it always sounded when she faked a prediction, though the effect was ruined by her anger. "I … I think I do see something … something that concerns you … Why, I sense something … something dark … some grave peril …"  
>Harry knew that Professor Trelawney was about to hit the last nail in her coffin and he was right. "I am afraid … I am afraid that you are in grave danger!"<p>

Then there was a pause, Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows and said, "Right. Well, if that's really the best you can do..."

Then Trelawney spoke again in a voice Harry recognized. She had used the same one when she had made her prophecy to him when he was in third year. This prophecy was real.

"The old and the grieving are in the castle … They seek what destroys and anticipate its arrival ... Yet never will they find what they seek … Another loss will be suffered at the hands of the same … The possibilities are two separate ways … What one sees as a weakness the others see as a strength … If they switch places the darkness will return into his heart and the grieving will lose his light."

Every student in the class was staring at Professor Trelawney who suddenly blinked and looked around at all the shocked faces. "What, did I say anything?"

"Was this for real?" Ron whispered and looked at Harry who nodded.

"Oh yeah, it was real. I just can't wait until we tell Hermione."

* * *

><p>Rebecca liked life at Hogwarts. It was the first school that had ever challenged her, as a late student she had to work three times as much as the other students. She was far behind on basic Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Flying, Herbology and Potion skills, the only one she wasn't behind on was Astronomy.<p>

Beside from that she actually had a great time at Hogwarts. Her first week she had not been required to do any homework or to actually take part in classes, she had been allowed to adapt first. The second week would be her first real week. Monday started with Charms and after Professor Flitwick had gotten the other students started with making them practice to pronounce a summoning charm correctly he turned towards Rebecca.

"Now, let me see your wand", Professor Flitwick said and clapped his hands slightly.

Rebecca held up a fine wand consisting of oak with dragon heart-string as core. Rebecca hadn't been the least surprised about it being dragon in the core, she felt appealed to Dragons in Duel Monsters and thus it was natural that she was to make a bond to a wand having a dragon core.

"Now, have you practiced any spells?" he wondered.

"No, Professor, I didn't dare", Rebecca confessed.

"Don't look so troubled girl. Many in the same position as you are worried about doing something wrong, that you are so careful means you have a good sense of responsibility. Be proud", Professor Flitwick stated. "But you don't have to worry. Let's start with something easy. The wand-lightening charm is very easy. Just say Lumos and make a movement with your hand in the form of a little loop. If you are successful the tip of your wand will start to glow like a candle." Professor Flitwick showed her the spell and Rebecca watched interested. "Now it's your turn."

Rebecca took a deep breath and said, "Lumos." as she made the required movement. Nothing happened.

"You need more conviction. You have to believe that it will happen. Try again, more firmly."

"Lumos!" Rebecca said louder and more demanding this time as she made a little loop with her wand. A split second it lit up and then it disappeared. It was the first time in her life that Rebecca had done magic and for some reason it felt as if she had lost something.

"That's good, that's good", Professor Flitwick assured her, misinterpreting her silence. "It's not unusual that spells are harder when you've recently received a new wand. Don't worry, it'll become better soon."

"It's not that I'm worried about", Rebecca said. "It's just … a runaway train."

"I'm not familiar with that expression", Professor Flitwick said confused. "Oh, well, let's try again."

After Charms Rebecca had Defense Against the Dark Arts and she knew she really didn't like Umbridge, there was something about her way that Rebecca found utterly unnerving. She had expected the class to be hard on her considering she was so far behind on everything, but Umbridge just dumped three books on Rebecca's desk the first time she attended the class and said: "Now my dear, these are the things that you were supposed to have learned the previous years. Just read through them as fast as possible, that should suffice."

Monday of the second week Rebecca had read through two of them and had just started on the third. She found it odd that they didn't do anything but read out of the rather childish books. The third seemed less childish, but not more promising. It troubled Rebecca that all they did was reading, what use of it would they have of it later? Yugi had said something of things being unsafe, then shouldn't they be learning how to defend themselves?

Rebecca had chosen Ancient Runes as one of her three elective subjects. It was after lunch on Monday and it was the first class she could entirely keep up with. She was rather experienced at the subject already due to her grandfather's profession but she wanted to learn more. The events around Atlantis were such that she wouldn't ever forget them and would anything like that ever occur again she wanted to be helpful.

Potions was fun, Rebecca was fascinated about the ingredients and how they cooperated. She didn't mind the way Professor Snape was at all. He did his best to make fun out of her the first time she had potions, which was the Wednesday after she arrived, but she didn't care. Rebecca simply answered truthfully on each mocking question he asked her and she was sure she made a fool of herself, but she couldn't care less. The Monday of her second week she had decided to make a potion of her own, after watching the others do it two times she wanted to get her hands working herself.

The last class that Monday was potions and when everyone else had started she walked to the front of the classroom. "Excuse me", she said as she stood before Professor Snape.

Every student in the class, consisting of the fourth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, looked up. Most of them would never dare to walk up to Professor Snape like that. They felt pity for the blonde girl and two or three of them wished that they had warned her about Professor Snape. The truth was that no one had dared walk up to her and introduce themselves after it became clear that she and Professor Muto knew each other. Certainly had the rumors reduced after the first week, but Rebecca had been standing directly in harms way. What the students found odd was that Rebecca didn't seem to mind being alone all the time, it was something that added to the distrust among them.

"Yes?" Professor Snape wondered coldly.

"I was just wondering if I could try to make a potion", Rebecca said and would usually have added something but didn't now. She had a feeling that if there was the slightest of chance that she would sound impudent that Professor Snape would turn her down directly.

"And what makes you think that you would be able to brew a potion? It is the finest of arts and not half as easy as everyone believes it to be. I don't know what this incapable bunch told you, but this is no subject to take lightly." The bat-like teacher sounded scornful and skeptical and seemed to assume that she would give up, but he didn't know her.

"This incapable bunch didn't tell me anything and I'm not stupid enough to take anything of this lightly. I know that my strength doesn't lay with Charms nor Transfiguration, neither do I have the patience to deal with animals or plants because they have a will of their own and I do not like it when someone decides to disobey me in such a disrespectful way plants and animals tend to do." She realized that she was starting to sound angry and took a deep breathe to calm herself. "I am not enough of an idiot to think that I'll be able to keep pace with this incapable bunch, but at least let me try something."

The entire class was gaping at her. Never had anyone spoken in that way to Professor Snape. Neither Rebecca nor Snape were aware of their stares.

"Are you not?" Professor Snape asked and sighed. "I suppose that you making a Boil Cure brew couldn't hurt, it would probably confirm your incapability."

"In that case I know how to practice", Rebecca said dryly, "It's not like I've anything better to do."

"Here you've got a book", Professor Snape said and nearly threw a copy of _Magical_ _Drafts and Potions _at her. She caught it clumsily and followed after Snape who removed himself to a corner of the classroom. "The ingredients are in the cupboard behind you. I reckon you know the way towards the Hospital Wing?" He didn't wait for answer but turned around and started walking around among the students, giving scornful comments everywhere.

Rebecca frowned and opened the book. She read through the instructions three times, determined not to get anything wrong before she started. First she put fresh nettle in her cauldron, stinging herself several times before she figured out how to hold them. Then she crushed the six Snake Fangs until they were finer than sand and looked closely in the text book again. Four measures and then 250 degrees for ten seconds.

She quickly added four measures of the snake fangs and heightened the temperature to 250 degrees for ten seconds. Now came the part she was most worried about. She waved her wand and halfway through the motion she reminded herself of having to be more convinced, but she didn't dare repeating herself. Now all she could do was wait for eighty minutes and though she would miss dinner she didn't really mind it. All she could do was hope that Professor Snape was in no hurry either.

She took her quill and a blank piece of parchment. She thought it was about time to write her grandfather, she hadn't done so since she arrived, simply because she was uncertain about what to write.

_Dear Grandpa,_

_I know it took me longer to write than I promised, but a lot has happened very sudden. Hogwarts is a huge castle and the students are many. I was completely overwhelmed when I first arrived but the headmaster is really nice and he helped me a lot. I was sorted in Ravenclaw house, the house that values wit and knowledge over anything else.  
>I started classes on Tuesday and I have something to tell you that will surprise you, please you. I'm certain most things would surprise you, but this was something that I was completely unprepared for.<br>Tuesday we had History of Magic first subject in the morning. Yugi was there, he teaches that subject, though he teaches our history rather than theirs. It was unbelievable to walk into that classroom and see him standing there! He's okay, still grieving, but otherwise fine. He's changed a lot and it's sad, we never learned the truth. It was no accident that killed Sugoroku and the others but a direct murder, Yugi is here to figure it out. The problem is just that here is in front of warfare. I got myself into trouble again, don't worry though, I'll be fine. How bad can it become?  
>I'm being very positive right now, I know nothing about this war. Yugi told me it wasn't safe, he said a fight was waiting. He didn't seem pleased with me showing up here.<br>This is just a scribble, I'll write more later. I have to go now, I'm in the middle of a Potion class._

_Love you,  
><em>_Rebecca_

She quickly stuffed the letter in her robes as the class was dismissed. She however stayed in place, she was far from finished and still had to wait nearly an hour before she could finish her brew.

"Miss Hawkins, aren't you running off to dinner like everyone else?" Professor Snape wondered as he noticed her sitting in the dark corner of the room.

"No, I still have to wait a while, I want to finish this properly. I don't want to risk coming back too late if I go."

"Do you expect me to leave you all alone in my classroom with all these ingredients here?" Professor Snape wondered scornfully.

Rebecca hadn't even thought about that and sighed disappointed. "Fine then, where do I pour this out?"

"Are you utterly insane, there is not a chance that you will be wasting such precious ingredients without giving me a finished sample. I still have some essays to correct and I could just as well do it here."

Rebecca was, to say the least, surprised and stared at the black-haired teacher in disbelieve.

"What are you staring at?" he wondered annoyed.

Most students would have stuttered a 'Nothing' but not Rebecca. "At someone who goes against his nature in order to find answers, or isn't that the reason you are being kinder than usual?"

In Snape's entire career no one had dared speaking to him that way earlier and he was out of words for a while but his expression spoke pages.

"It's okay, it's completely understandable", Rebecca continued and was tactful enough towards Professor Snape not to comment on his screaming silence. "I craved answers too. He's been gone for a very long time and we didn't know what to think. I was very angry with him, but his actions were understandable." Then Rebecca's tone became suddenly harder. "I'd have tried the same thing if I had known, which is probably the reason he didn't tell."  
>Rebecca threw the hourglass she had turned after waving her wand a glance as the last corns of sand fell down. "Oh, times up."<p>

Rebecca picked up four of the horned slugs and dropped them in her cauldron and made sure that the liquid didn't splash. Then she carefully removed the cauldron from the fire, Snape looked nearly disappointed. Rebecca smiled as she added the porcupine quills and stirred clockwise five times. Then once again she waved her one and once again she was too uncertain of her wand-work to do it firmly.

The color of the potion certainly turned blue, but not really the color blue that was described in the book. She collected a sample non the less, careful not to touch the liquid, but when she put it on Professor Snape's desk he refused it. "No, I'll come and have a look right away."

He stood up and walked with large steps towards her cauldron. "Well", he said not sounding surprised. "I can't say that your brew was a success. This thing would cause boils rather than cure them. Absolutely worthless!"

"What did I do wrong?" Rebecca wondered, having a slight suspicion.

"Your wand-work is on the same level as that of a Bowtuckle", he said scornful.

"Is that all?" she wondered, smiling triumphantly.

"Eh... Yes." Snape wasn't pleased that he had to admit that. He preferred to make the student feel worthless and this girl didn't seem to have the slightest problems avoiding his attempts.

"Well, I'll be off then. Perhaps I still can fetch myself some dinner", she said cheerful after Snape emptied the cauldron.

Professor Snape didn't react but Rebecca didn't care. It wasn't until she reached the Great Hall that she noticed that she was still holding the failed Boil Cure brew. She smiled at it, "You I'll keep. Perhaps you will prove yourself useful." Then, after a little pause she added with a frown, "What's a Bowtuckle?"

* * *

><p>"I don't care! Professor Trelawney is an old fraud and that's all she is!" Hermione objected furiously, "It's probably just another one of her fake precognitions!"<p>

"But Hermione", Ron complained, nearly having to run after her to keep up with her long and angry steps. "It wasn't like that. I've never heard anything like it before and afterward she really couldn't remember a single word she said!"

"Yeah, Hermione, it wasn't even a precognition", Harry started, hurrying after her in the same style as Ron.

"Then what was it?" she asked sharply, not deeming them worthy of a glance.

"It was more like … like a prophecy", Harry said.

"Yes", Ron indorsed, "It wouldn't be the first time either, she knew about Wormtail! Had we listened to her then we would have skipped ourselves a lot of trouble!"

"And then who would this prophecy be about? How did it went, who is going to return to V … Voldemort this time?"

Ron winced but neither Harry nor Hermione cared.

"I wrote it down", Harry said quickly and gave Hermione a bit of paper.

"The old and the grieving are in the castle … They seek what destroys and anticipate its arrival ... Yet never will they find what they seek … Another loss will be suffered at the hands of the same … The possibilities are two separate ways … What one sees as a weakness the others see as a strength … If they switch places the darkness will return into his heart and the grieving will lose his light", she read out loud. "That makes no sense whatsoever!" She threw the paper behind her and Harry caught it quickly.

"What doesn't make sense?" Harry wondered.

"What does?" Hermione replied angrily.

"Why do you refuse to believe that the prophecy Trelawney made was real?" Ron wondered, ignoring the fact that Hermione had answered with a question.

"Ron, there are no such things as prophecies, precognitions or fortune telling! The Second Sight is fake, it doesn't exist!" Hermione called out as she walked into the Gryffindor Tower. She gained mean glances from Lavender and Parvati who heard her statement.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that", Harry whispered. "Isn't it obvious who this prophecy was about?"

"You think it's Professor Muto", Hermione stated skeptically.

"Yes, of course!" Harry whispered, looking at the students around him to make sure no one was listening. "Who else could be the grieving and with the old she must have meant the Pharaoh!"

"And what would they seek? What loss and at who's hands? It makes no sense, none of it, Trelawney is a fake, deal with it." Angry she walked up the stairs towards the girl dormitories and both Ron and Harry knew from experience that they better didn't follow her.

"You know, she could be right", Ron exclaimed lowly. "It doesn't make any sense."

"What about Wormtail? Don't tell me that was a coincidence", Harry said and turned around.

"Ask Dumbledore, for all I know, he must know more about Professor Muto than we do", Ron suggested and yawned. He sat down and fished some homework out of his bag. "Don't you have detention?"

Harry swore and opened the portrait door, he headed off to Umbridge's office, for once he was certain that he wouldn't give the slightest of signs of pain, for that the adrenaline was flowing through him way too fast. He didn't trust Professor Muto, there was something dark around him and Harry was certain that it was some kind of power, he must have lied about not controlling the powers of the Shadows, what else could leave such a dark presence? The pity he had felt for Professor Muto during Divination was long gone.

* * *

><p>Tuesday morning a bright pink piece of parchment stood out among Yugi's post. It was a note from Umbridge telling him that she would be inspecting his class on Thursday after lunch. He sighed, he knew it would happen eventually when he had read the paper the previous day, it was just that so much had happened that he had completely forgotten about the Hogwarts High Inquisitor. He would be having the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins, he would have preferred any class but theirs. For that particular class it was important that he didn't do anything wrong, but with Umbridge coming to question him there was a chance that he would have to start over with them from below zero.<p>

"You seem displeased", Madam Hooch said as she fetched a cup of coffee and sat down in one of the large armchairs that stood spread out in the teachers lounge. "Considering what you holding is pink it must have something to do with Dolores. You care to share?"

"She'll be inspecting me on Thursday, wonder what will happen if I don't live up to her expectations?" Yugi mused and took a cup of coffee himself too.

"I don't know", Madam Hooch said. "I don't assume she can fire you, can she?"

"No, I suppose not, but I'm sure that if she's displeased with someone that she can keep them from teaching."

"You think she'll fail you?" Madam Hooch wondered.

"Dunno, depends. I won't say that this is a fair game, I'm sure she'll sack anyone she dislikes", Yugi said with a frown.

"You think very high of your colleagues", Madam Hooch laughed and took a unconsidered sip from the hot drink. She swore as she burned her tongue.

"You okay?" Yugi wondered.

Madam Hooch just nodded. She pointed her wand at her mouth and suddenly smiled. "Good invention, nonverbal spells."

Yugi laughed.

"But why do you think she would dislike you?" Madam Hooch continued.

Yugi grinned. "You know why, I don't have to spell that out."

Madam Hooch sighed. "Yeah, you're right. She's a bitch."

Yugi gaped at the hawk-eyed teacher and then they both started to laugh simultaneously.

"What are you laughing about?" a high-pitched voice asked from behind them.

Madam Hooch and Yugi went red and neither of them turned around. "Nothing of importance", Madam Hooch said, still trying to recover from the laugh attack.

Aren't you coming to join the rest of the staff at the breakfast table?" the toad-like woman wondered.

"Yeah", Yugi said, who didn't have as much trouble to stop laughing as Madam Hooch. "Right away." He stood up and walked to the door, closely followed by Umbridge and Madam Hooch. He held up the door for the two of them and he and Madam Hooch exchanged glances as Umbridge marched through it with her nose in the air, not deeming Yugi worthy of a glance.

"I see what you mean", Madam Hooch said as she and Yugi sat down on their respective places. "I believe you're in a tight spot."

Yugi smiled at that. "Yep, but I'm not that worried yet. I can always get some old tricks out of my sleeve, I've got enough of them."

"You didn't come unprepared, did you?" Madam Hooch smiled.

"Not to situations like these", he said and they both fell silence at the words that mattered, those that were left unspoken. Yugi started to wish that he hadn't told her about his friends, but it had been necessary, now he would be able to process and get back his objectivity. _Necessary casualties..._

/_Yugi, where did that thought come from?_/ Atem asked, seeming calm but actually really worried.

/_Eh... I dunno_/ he confessed ashamed.

/_Don't get that attitude, you know what it has done to others. Don't take the people you can trust for granted, Rolanda Hooch is the person among the teachers you can trust most, respect and honor that. Heed my warning Yugi and don't go astray._/

/_It feels slightly weird to be lectured by you_/ Yugi remarked, but did feel guilty.

/_I've been lecturing you the past four years, it's just that you haven't listened before_/ Atem sighed, making Yugi feel even more guilty.

/_Yeah... I know, I'm sorry_/

/_I'm just glad you're back, Hikari_/ Atem smiled.

* * *

><p>So, that was that.<br>Review all of you, I can't live without them. The more the merrier, merry Christmas to you all. Give this Fault some early Christmas gifts; _All I want for Christmas is_ _Reviews_!


	10. The Inspection

Here it's habit to celebrate Christmas with gifts on Christmas Eve and not the morning after, it's a whole lot more cozy. This is my Christmas Gift to you and I hope you'll all enjoy it.

* * *

><p>Thursday arrived sooner than Yugi had hoped it would and he was being unusual clumsy due to nervousness. Atem did fruitless attempts to calm Yugi _It'll be fine. As you told Madam Hooch, we've got enough tricks on our sleeve_/

"You have enough tricks on your sleeve, I can do nothing at all!" Yugi said, sounding angrier than intended. "And really what would you do?"

/_I'd challenge her_/ Atem said soberly. He sat on one of the chairs that stood around the round wooden table in spirit-form and was eying Yugi as the Japanese took on his pants inside out.

"Challenge who?" a squeaky voice wondered.

"Dobby!" Yugi called out surprised as he took his pants off and turned them right. "Oh, no one of importance."

Yugi didn't understand house-elves and he had accepted the fact that he most likely never would. Yet it was interesting to see how attached a house-elf could become if you treated him as an equal. After the event at the office of the Daily Prophet Dobby had become Yugi's personal spy. He kept an eye and ear out and reported everything he found important to Yugi and Atem. Dobby was eager to assist Yugi in any way he could to help him beat their common enemy; Lucius Malfoy. He had been touched by how Yugi had stood up to the man for the house-elf's sake and he felt the need to repay Yugi for that.

Yugi did not bother to be annoyed by the elf's rather unpleasant intrusion, he had decided not to complain as long as the house-elf didn't appear in the bathroom. To be entirely honest Yugi enjoyed the elf's what seemed to become daily morning visits; the weird hats, the earrings and the elf's happy chatter always made Yugi smile. "Aren't you suppose to help the other elves with breakfast?"

Dobby shook his head, his caps were close to slipping of his head. "No, too many elves for tasks. Dobby has loads of spare-time. All he ever does is clean the Gryffindor common room and Professor Muto's room."

"Is that so?" Yugi smiled as he fetched a white shirt and buttoned it. "So what did you come to tell me?"

"A lot of complains has been made about Professor Umbridge's way of teaching", Dobby started and sat down on the bed.

"No surprise there", Yugi said and the nervousness, that Dobby had driven away just a moment ago, returned with full strength. "I suppose that in times like these Defense Against the Dark Arts is important and I'm sure that someone working on behalf of the Ministry would refuse to teach things properly. I wonder if they fear that Dumbledore would make the students fight for him? Something they must fear and it clearly isn't Voldemort."

"Well, Dobby doesn't know about the Ministry sir, but Dobby does know that Defense Against the Dark Arts is important. The students think so too, they want to learn it themselves. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley want Harry Potter to teach the students how to defend themselves when the war begins."

/_Is he suited to do so?_/ Atem asked Dobby curiously and stood up.

Dobby, who still was slightly afraid of Atem despite their common conversations, winced a bit as the mighty air of the former Pharaoh seemed to fill the room. Yugi never noticed that because he was use to Atem, but a room always seemed smaller when the ancient spirit showed up. It was a good thing that the only ones who ever noticed Atem were the house-elves. Yugi caught himself wondering why the house-elves could see the ancient spirit.

Dobby shook the fear that he knew to be irrelevant off himself and nodded fiercely. "Oh, yes. Harry Potter saved many people in his second year when he beat the basilisk that attacked students in this castle. He saved Ginny Weasley, the basilisk was a part of You-Know-Who's plan to resurrected himself. He is really great and last year he won the Triwizard Tournament and fought You-Know-Who himself!"

/_So he's good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. What did he think about the idea?_/ Atem wondered.

"He seemed to think it was a bad idea, he says it was all luck, but Dobby knows better!"

/_He can't be worse than Umbridge_/ Atem stated. /_I don't think it's a bad idea, it'd be good for Rebecca too, she knows nothing at all._/

"Let's just hope it plays out well. Let's get some breakfast", Yugi said and put on his shoes.

They came late for breakfast and Umbridge was standing in the doorway towards the Great Hall waiting for him.

"You're late", she stated displeased.

"Yeah, I know. I had a very giving conversation this morning and anyway, it's only breakfast. Breakfast has no tight schedule, has it?" Yugi said as he hopped around on one foot in an attempt to close the zipper of his right shoe that had broken down.

"A conversation, with whom if I might ask?" Umbridge asked with sugar sweet voice.

Yugi relinquished his attempts to close the zipper of his shoe and looked up at Umbridge, he hated the fact that he actually had to look up. "With a house-elf, actually."

"What about", Umbridge asked, clearly determined to find out every last detail.

"Nothing of importance, we talked a bit about making breakfast, the amount of house-elves in the castle and what tasks he did and what he did in his spare time."

Atem chuckled. /_We didn't talk about his spare time_/

/_No, but I just want to see her reaction on spare time, house-elves aren't really suppose to have such a thing_/ Yugi said, doing his best to hold back a smile.

/_I figured, looks like you hit home._/

Yugi focused on Umbridge again and was surprised by her expression. She came closer to Yugi and he quickly took some steps backwards as she pointed a finger at him. "Did you say spare time?"

"Well, yes", Yugi replied uncertain, regretting his little prank.

"House-elves aren't supposed to have spare-time! They are filthy servants, all they are good for is serving wizards and witches from good families! They have no rights! They must be loyal to the house they serve!" Umbridge was nearly purple in the face with anger.

"He's a free elf! Dumbledore offered him a job", Yugi said, nearly panicking, he had no idea what to say.

"He gets paid!" Umbridge's voice reached a very unpleasant high pitch.

"I suppose so", Yugi said, backing several steps again and bumped into an armchair.

"This is unacceptable!" she bellowed, having completely forgotten about Yugi.

"I think it's sounds humane", Yugi suggested quietly as Atem yelled at him to keep quiet just a bit too late.

Umbridge stared at Yugi a couple of seconds as if in very deep thought, then she suddenly turned around and stormed into the Great Hall.

Yugi took a very deep breath and let the air escape slowly. /_No more jokes_/

/_That sounds like a wise decision partner_/ Atem remarked, being just as astonished as Yugi.

"In moments like this I envy you, they never yell at you", Yugi complained.

Atem just laughed, then he sighed. /_Don't envy me, I'd like to have people yelling at me, it'd mean that they'd known that I was here_/

Yugi knew that what he said had been slightly insensitive but decided to do an attempt to lighten the suddenly dark mood. "I'll ask Rebecca or Dobby to yell at you."

Atem burst out laughing. /_Both of them have yelled at me more than enough, one of them more justified than the other_/

"What was wrong with her?" Madam Hooch asked as she entered the teachers lounge from the Great Hall.

The short Japanese smiled weakly, "I told her that there are paid free elves working at Hogwarts and that I thought it was humane."

Madam Hooch buried her face in one hand and stated: "You obviously don't know who Dolores Jane Umbridge is, a while ago she held a fierce campaign against werewolves, frightening people with them. We had a werewolf teacher here two years ago, Professor Remus Lupin, he was just a normal guy, really friendly, only a bit scabby. He disappeared once a month, he and Professor Dumbledore made sure to have him some place safe so he wouldn't harm the students but he had all faith in Remus. He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this school has seen for a long time, did wonders with the students, he taught them successfully how to get rid of a Boggart. I'm sure he can't find a job now anymore, due to that toad."

"Werewolves?" Yugi wondered incredulous. "Seriously?"

Madam Hooch laughed. "I forgot that you are new to this. Yeah, werewolves, there is a lot of prejudice against them but they are regular people, most of the time. Some werewolves are actually bloodthirsty killers but they'd never apply for a job so I don't get Dolores's problem. Anyway, she doesn't like half-breeds or creatures with 'near human intelligence' usually they are a lot smarter than us, but try to tell the Ministry that."

"Like house-elves?" Yugi wondered.

"Yeah, house-elves but also centaurs and merepeople."

"I won't ask", Yugi sighed. "Werewolves are enough for one day."

"You're coping quite well for a new-be", Madam Hooch said and smiled at him.

"Oh, well, I chose for it. Then you have no right not to."

Madam Hooch chose not to comment but her opinion was clear. She thought him brave and strong and Yugi disagreed.

"Well, I wish you luck with her today. Don't do anything stupid and don't mention werewolves or house-elves!"

* * *

><p>Rebecca met her first friend at the castle Thursday, during lunch. As usual she was eating alone, she had a book next to her which she read while eating her soup. She found <em>Hogwarts: A History to be<em> very interesting, even though she hadn't even finished the first chapter yet. Every now and then she waved her wand and said, "Lumos." She was determined to learn the spell before the end of the weekend.

"Having any luck?" a brown-haired, freckled Ravenclaw asked. He went in the same class as Rebecca but just like everyone else he hadn't approached her at all. She knew his name to be Peter

"What?" she wondered coldly and glared at him in the most hostile way she could manage.

"What's with the attitude?" he wondered and sat down opposite her. Rebecca had to admit that he was brave, though he couldn't entirely hide the fact that he was nervous.

"I've been ignored completelyl for well over a week, why the sudden approach?" she wondered, smiling innocently, but with a sharp glimmer in her eyes.

"Actually I want to warn you. You are muggle-born, aren't you?" he wondered curiously. Looking around to make sure they weren't overheard.

"I have no idea what that even means", she answered and leaned backwards a bit.

"Exactly. Muggle-borns are people with non-magical parents, it's very important to know whether you are or aren't muggle-born nowadays."

"Why is that?" Rebecca wondered suspiciously, she was well aware that she in fact was muggle-born, but she couldn't see why that mattered.

"The rumors … the Death Eaters … it's a ..." Peter clearly couldn't find words to express what he desired to say.

"Death Eaters?" Rebecca wondered, recalling her conversation with Yugi. "Aren't they dangerous?" Somewhere deep inside her an uncontrollable fury was burning. These Death Eaters had killed the best friends she had ever had and she'd make them pay for it.

"Oh, yeah! They definitely are! The Death Eaters are loyal to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named an evil wizard that died fifteen years ago. Though some people are saying, people like Dumbledore, that he is back. Harry Potter claims he's fought You-Know-Who last year, one student died. No one knows what happened though." Peter talked lower and lower the further he came in his explanation. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is extremely powerful and if he's back that would mean warfare, the Ministry refuses to believe that they are telling the truth and call Harry and Dumbledore for liars. You really didn't know about this?"

Rebecca shook her head. "Not at all. Yugi, sorry, Professor Muto, said that it wasn't safe for either him nor me but he didn't explain further."

"That is one of the reasons everyone avoids you, it's weird that you are on such familiar terms with a teacher", Peter stated.

"Oh, come on. I was eight when I met him and he was in High School, he practically is my best friend. He went away for a very long time, I've missed him! Hadn't it been for an entire class gaping at me I'd have hugged him!" she joked and laughed despite herself.

"Really?" Peter wondered, staring at her with a rather odd expression.

"Of course! Professor Muto, I can barely say that, will never be a teacher to me. The thought alone! Had anyone suggested to me that Yugi was capable of teaching two weeks ago I'd have laughed them straight in the face", she said and couldn't stop laughing at Peter's expression. "But clearly he's good at it, unbelievable!"

Peter started to laugh a little uncertain, affected by the unstoppable laughter of the blonde girl in front of him. "So that's it, old friends then?" Peter said to get confirmation.

"Yeah, something like that", Rebecca answered and got another fit of laughs at Peter's horrified expression.

"Whattaya mean with 'Something like that'?" he wondered suspiciously.

Rebecca stared at him disbelieving when she understood what he meant. "No, no-no-no-no! Nothing like that! He's no freaking lolicon!" Rebecca said offended. "I won't deny I had a crush on him up until the age of ten but really, no way!"

"You had a crush on him?" Peter asked, feeling terribly misplaced.

"Oh, yeah, a severe one. But that's long gone, long gone", Rebecca assured him and had another fit of laughter at his expression. He didn't say anything and his gaze had entirely spaced out, Rebecca wasn't sure if she wanted to know what he was thinking about.

"So, what have the Death Eaters to do with muggle-borns", she asked after she stopped laughing.

"What … Eh right", Peter said as his gaze regained focus, the slight smile on his lips disappeared completely and changed into an expression of grim seriousness.

"Voldemort deemed pure-blooded wizards to be better than everyone else, deemed muggle-borns unworthy of life and thought that Muggles were to serve wizards. In the war that started twenty years ago muggle-borns like me were hunted everywhere and either killed or send to Azkaban, a terrible prison. You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters took control over the Ministry and nearly everything else. The only one He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was afraid of was Dumbledore, since Dumbledore is one of the mightiest wizards around."

"What happened to him?" Rebecca wondered, a sickening feeling getting a firm grip over her stomach. She pushed the soup out of reach, feeling ill simply by the smell of it.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named died when he tried to kill a toddler", Peter said and held up a hand at Rebecca's incredulous expression. "Let me continue. You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters kill by using the killing curse. It's not really certain what happens when you are hit by that curse, only thing for certain is that you die on the spot. When You-Know-Who tried to kill that toddler the spell bounced back on him and killed him. At least that is what is said, no one knows what happened to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Why wasn't the toddler killed? And why don't you say his name, it sounds silly?" Rebecca questioned and awaited the answer interested.

"I don't know why Harry didn't die, I suppose that there are people that do, but I don't", Peter said solemnly, "then perhaps I'd know what to believe."

"Harry you say, the same one that claims to have fought the man you refuse to name?" Rebecca asked with a frown. She knew how this was going to turn out already, she had enough of experience with these kinds of fights not to see the pattern, one that was repeating now too.

"Yeah, the one and the same", Peter confirmed and Rebecca sighed. "As for the name, we don't speak it, I don't know why really. It's just ..." He shuddered.

"At least tell me", Rebecca pleaded. "I want to know, please."

Peter thought deeply a while and eventually he made a decision. "I'll write it down for you." With small letters he wrote down: Voldemort.

"Voldemort?" Rebecca asked.

"Sht!" Peter whispered and winced. "Don't speak his name! But does Professor Muto think that he is back?"

Rebecca thought a while before she nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I can at least assure you that the Death Eaters are active."

"Mh, Sirius Black I suppose. It's said that he'll be the one to shoulder You-Know-Who's work and continue the work that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named started."

"Who's Sirius Black?" Rebecca wondered.

"A mass murderer that escaped Azkaban two years ago. He's probably the most wanted man in Great Britain. I hope he'll be caught, or better, killed soon. It's no good to have the only man who knows how to escape Azkaban on free foot", Peter stated and shuddered again.

Rebecca looked up and saw that Peter received a mean glare from Ginny Weasley who just passed by as Peter explained who Sirius Black was.

"He doesn't sound like a very nice person", Rebecca replied to satisfy Peter, but she wasn't convinced. Ginny's expression had been one of powerlessness, sorrow and anger, the expression of someone who knew the truth but wasn't allowed to tell. Yugi had wore an expression a bit alike when Rebecca demanded information from him. "Would you excuse me, it just hit me that I have something to do." She gave him the most convincing smile she could manage and stood up. "Nice meeting you."

Rebecca grabbed her copy of _Hogwarts: A History _and hurried off after Ginny. Ginny had left the Great Hall and went up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower. "Ginny!" Rebecca called out after her.

The red-haired girl turned around surprised and looked disturbed. "What is it?" Rebecca grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her into a hallway that people rarely used so they would be able to talk without being overheard. Ginny protested but Rebecca ignored her.

"About Sirius Black, what do you know that no one else does?" Rebecca asked bluntly, she didn't feel like dancing around the point.

"What makes you think I know anything about that murderer?" Ginny asked and acted very convincing. She actually sounded disgusted, but Rebecca didn't think that the feeling was genuine.

"That look you gave Peter when he told me about Sirius Black was unmistakable! I've seen it before, you know more than you dare or are allowed to tell! If what he said wasn't true than I want to know!" Rebecca said anxiously.

"Why would you doubt his words?" Ginny said, still acting convincingly.

"Personal experience and since I was thrown into this very unexpected I haven't been as much affected by the propaganda of the Daily Prophet. People are dying and they are denying it!" Rebecca said, she was upset and didn't mind showing it.

"How do you know that people are dying. Who's said that?" Ginny asked, cornering Rebecca with her own words.

Rebecca didn't answer but looked away.

Understanding dawned upon Ginny. "Oh no, someone you knew?"

Rebecca knew she had worked herself into a tight spot and Rebecca had her own personal way of dealing with such kind of things. She used the same method when she was angry or sad as when cornered. She had used the method on Atem, who had been fairly unaffected at the time, but Rebecca was stronger and taller now, so Ginny would be sure to notice. Rebecca pulled her hand back, clenched her fist and punched Ginny straight in the face. Then she ran, she ran as fast as she could. She scolded herself for not being more careful, here people wouldn't try to explain all the unbelievable away, on the contrary.

Ginny was laying on the ground, covering her nose which was bleeding terribly. She wasn't angry, she understood that it was indeed someone who Rebecca had cared about that had died by the hands of a Death Eater. Ginny sighed and stood up, she at least appreciated the fact that someone gave Sirius the benefit of the doubt.

* * *

><p>Yugi had been too nervous to eat either breakfast or lunch and as he awaited the arrival of the fifth years and Umbridge he had a stomachache that wouldn't aid him in any way. He heard stumbling outside the classroom and went to open the doors. As he held a hand on each doorknob he sighed. _Well, here goes nothing._/

/_I'm on your side_/ Atem said in means of calming Yugi and Yugi was calmed. He could do anything with his dark other at his side. It had been a while since he had that thought and it made him smile. He opened the doors wide and walked towards his desk as the student flooded into the classroom and took their respective places. Yugi was pleased to see that Dean Thomas and Tracey Davis still went to sit next to each other. They were talking and laughing, ignoring the stares from the other students.

/_I wish we saw that more often_/ Atem stated and Yugi's smile broadened, only to disappear as Dolores Umbridge entered the classroom.  
>She walked all the way passed Yugi and stole the chair behind his desk. She dragged it to a corner and sat down. She turned half in her seat to observe the hieroglyphs on the wall.<p>

"Alright, last Monday I covered a part that is very important but doesn't quite explain how the second world war started. Adolf Hitler was a mere politician and a former soldier after the first world war. After a while he started his own political party called NSDAP, which is short for Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. They were at first a very small party but due to the circumstances in the country they grew fast. Eventually Hitler became head of government and when president Hindenburg died he made himself Führer. After world war one the German people were scattered all over Europa and Hitler wanted to bring them back to Germany, but by widening the German borders rather than making them move back."

"Hem, hem", a high pitched voice interrupted Yugi.

Yugi decided not to tempt faith and went quite obediently. "Yes?"

"Is this what you usually teach the students?" she wondered, sounding as if she deemed herself a whole lot superior.

"Yes, you teach History in order to make people learn from their ancestors mistake. The second world war was one of these great mistakes that should never be repeated, thus it's the perfect subject to teach about."

Umbridge gave a little nod and took a note on her clipboard. "Yes, of course."

/_I was satisfied with that answer_/ Yugi told Atem uncertain.

/_I think it sounded really good_/ Atem suited Yugi. /_But I don't really think she cares about what you answer_/

/_Thank you, very encouraging_/ Yugi remarked dryly.

"How long have you worked here?" Umbridge asked.

"Nearly two weeks", Yugi said even more dryly.

"And if I'm not mistaking you're a muggle?" Dolores wondered with a sugar-sweet smile that made Yugi feel even worse than he already did.

"Yes."

"Then if one of the students would turn against you you'd be defenseless. You wouldn't be able to stop a fight among student either?" she asked, clearly convinced that she had Yugi in a stranglehold.

"I might be a muggle by your standards, but I'm definitely not defenseless", Yugi said, a little smile appearing on his face. He had a suspicion on where this was heading and he knew he would be able to turn Umbridge's words against her. If she'd ask for it he would give it to her.

"I assume that you know that you wont get far with martial arts, do you?"

/_What a fool, do you think she realizes that without a wand she'd be defenseless. They should train material arts as a precaution, they are way too depending on their wands_/ Atem observed worried.

/_We can't tell the students that_/ Yugi remarked.

/_No, but Rebecca could spread that knowledge and so could mister Potter, Weasley and Thomas, miss Granger too_/ Atem said.

"I believe you'd be surprised how much martial arts could work in a fight, even against a wizard or witch, but that was indeed not what I was referring to, my martial skills are very low. I don't doubt that I'd be able to deal with a student who decides to turn on me though."

The students were listening in on the conversation and the four Gryffindors were worried, the rest simply confused.

"So if I'd try to curse you, you'd be able to stop me?" Umbridge asked scornful.

"That's what I claim", Yugi confirmed.

"Well, let's put it to the test, _Flipendo Tria_!" she yelled without giving Yugi a second to think. Atem had been more prepared for it, he took control and leaped to the side in even less time than Umbridge needed to pronounce the incantation.

A shocked wave of whispers went through the classroom as the orange tornado hit the blackboard which shattered into pieces.

"That you'll regret!" Atem said loud and clear, he straightened his back and his red eyes glared into Umbridge's own bulging ones. It was a good thing he stood with his back towards the students, they wouldn't notice the difference. He only wished he sounded more like Yugi.

"What are you going to do?" Umbridge asked. "You can't do anything!"

"I told my dad things would go wrong if we had a muggle as a teacher. He'll make sure that we'll get rid of him", Draco Malfoy said to no one in particular.

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy!" Tracey Davis called out to the blonde. "You don't know what you're talking about. That is the more powerful version of the Knockback jinx, the consequences of being hit with one can be terrible!" Atem didn't have to turn around to know that every Gryffindor in the room was staring at her.

He chose to ignore the tumult behind him for the moment and focused on Umbridge. "That's what you think, let's play a game, a Yami no Game."

"A what?" Umbridge wondered frightened.

"A game, certainly you know what that means? I'll explain the rules."

Atem had changed from the prey to the predator, Umbridge knew that and suddenly she regretted ever coming.

"They are simple", Atem continued. "We aren't allowed to move our feet, we can say two words and two words only to defeat our opponent, first one on his knees loses. One more ..."

Suddenly Umbridge started to laugh and interrupted him, "You don't stand a chance! I accept!"

"You should have let me finish", Atem said, his eyes burning with anger. "One more thing, I said, the Shadows will remove what we rely on most from our senses."

"What is going to do what?" Umridge said, suddenly not so gleeful anymore.

"Start!" Atem called out and the same instant he said so Yugi's presence vanished. Atem had to calm himself, he knew it would happen since he relied on Yugi above anything else, but still...

Umbridge lifted her wand to fire a curse, but then she noticed that she couldn't see nor feel her wand anymore. "My wand!" she called out and started waving with her hands, mistakenly throwing the wand towards Atem. "Where's my wand?"

Atem just had to bend down to pick it up. The moment he touched the wand it became visible to Umbridge again. "Right here."

"NO!" Umbridge screamed and ran forwards towards Atem but the Shadows holding her feet wouldn't allow her to move and she tripped, falling to her knees.

"Looks like I won, you pathetic cheat. You have weak heart that desires power above anything else, may you be devoured by your own heart. Sh …"

The entrance door was busted open and a blonde girl ran in, panting heavily. "No! Atem!" she yelled in Japanese. "Don't!"

"Rebecca", Atem sighed and relinquished the Shadows. "Sorry, you're right. What are you doing here?" He could feel Yugi's presence again the moment the Shadows disappeared and he felt relieved.

"I came to talk to you", Rebecca said, still talking Japanese so she wouldn't be understood. "I was waiting outside, but heard what happened. It took me ages to come through that door to keep you from doing something stupid! Do you know what could have happened?"

"Thank you", Atem answered. "You're right. I'd get myself in a tight spot, wouldn't I?"

"Yes you would! It's a lot easier to give yourself away here than anywhere else!"

"Stop scolding me, students aren't supposed to scold their teachers. Come to my office after this class and we'll talk properly there", Atem said calmly, still with his back towards the students and a shocked Umbridge at his feet. He wondered what would have happened if he actually had preformed a Shadow Game on her.

Rebecca nodded, though Atem didn't see that, turned around and left. The students were watching with question marks written over their faces. Atem relinquished his hold over Yugi and retreated to his soul room.

Yugi turned around and gave the class a smile, smoothly continuing what Atem had started, though still slightly shocked over the darkness that had separated him unexpectedly from the ancient spirit. "Mister Malfoy, I'll see you after dinner and this time don't count on me being called away." Then Yugi turned towards Umbridge who got to her feet. "Any more questions?"

* * *

><p>I had actually planned on simply skipping the detention with Malfoy a faithful reviewer wanted me to do something with it. So this is for her, that much I'll do for those that review faithfully with long reviews.<p>

I worked all day to get this little gift ready in time, but don't expect me to update anymore this year. Soon my family will arrive and that will crave way too much of my time to update.  
>Anyway, since I've been working nonstop today on this gift I think you should all repay the favor by reviewing. That's the best gift I can get; a long, considered feedback telling me you're thought around this chapter, any guesses on what's going to happen, what you likedislike about the story and all such things.

If any of you is searching for a great Christmas song; check out Fairytail of New York by Waxie Dargles.  
><em><br>And I would do anything for reviews! I would run right into hell and back. Yes I would do anything for reeeviews_


	11. Draco's Detention

After 54 hours without electricity, due to a heavy windstorm which actually blew part of the roof from the barn I have been doing nothing but working on this chapter, which includes the detention with Draco. I really didn't know what to do with the chapter at all and I think it feels a bit like a fill-up chapter which is one of the reasons it's short.  
>Anyway, with the next chapter we will be moving on away from Yugi introduction to the wizarding world and Hogwarts to the Hog's Head which is a chapter I've been really looking forward to. The problem is only that I don't think I'll be having much time to write until after New year and perhaps no even then. I have just gotten my own skii equipment and as soon as the weather gets steady I believe I will be living on the slopes.<p>

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

><p>What had happened during Umbridge's inspection of History of Magic went through the castle faster than anyone would have held for possible. How Umbridge had attacked a teacher and how that teacher had challenged her to a game and left her cowering on the ground everyone knew, how it all had happened was very vague since students added and removed things to make it sound more spectacular.<p>

Alternate versions of what happened reached Severus Snape throughout the remainder of the day. The first version he overheard was from a third year Hufflepuff who was telling two first years that Umbridge had preformed the killing curse on Professor Muto but that he had grabbed a chessboard and had used it as shield, after which he started to beat Umbridge up with it. Snape who had great fun at the mental image that conjured decided not to comment and try to find a more reliable version.

After hearing a version which included snakes and spiders and a different one which involved the class turning into fishes he decided to simply ask a fifth year who had been present. He was roaming through the corridors in the hope to catch one but they all seemed to be busy either in the library or in the common rooms, not one roamed the castle.

It was as he left his office to get dinner that he encountered a trustworthy source. Draco Malfoy was heading towards Snape's office, just as the elder man was about to leave, with an expression of pure anger. Snape mentally rolled his eyes but held up the door to the blonde in his house.

"What is it?" Snape asked coldly.

"That bastard gave me detention!" Draco raged. "He has no right! How dare he?"

"Who are you talking about?" Snape asked, unaffected by the younger's fury.

"That filthy muggle! That joke of a professor! He gave me detention! I'm supposed to meet him in his office right now! That piece of trash even attacked a full-blooded witch! He should burn for all eternity for such a sin!" Draco simply went on.

"I suppose you are talking about Professor Muto", Snape stated and sighed. "If you're supposed to meet him in his office right now, then why aren't you there?"

"I will not be given detention by a muggle!" Draco called out disgusted with clenched fists. "He met my father last Monday, he defended our previous damn house-elf! That's unacceptable!"

"Shut up", Snape said shortly and Draco had no other choice but to obey. "As long as Professor Muto is a teacher at Hogwarts he can give you detention and at this moment all we can do is to accept that, Malfoy", Snape explained, seemingly cold but actually quite intense. Snape waited a while and lied like he always did. "It is revolting to have to watch students under such a bad influence as from that filthy muggle, as you called him, but there is nothing we can do about it yet. Soon he'll be gone, you'll have a different teacher next year at latest."

"You're telling me just to go and do as he tells me! I'm far superior than him, it's like taking orders from a house-elf. Besides, he's supposed to be a fucking muggle, what he did to Professor Umbridge isn't possible for a muggle! And he touched her wand, I'm sure she's cleaning her wand over and over again right now!" Draco shuddered with revolt and shook his head to get the thought out of his mind.

"I don't know what Professor Muto did to Professor Umbridge since I haven't heard anyone tell me a sensible version of that story. After you've been to Professor Muto you can come back here and tell me exactly what happened", Snape ordered and opened the door in a clear gesture for Draco to leave.

"Once the Dark Lord returns he'll be dead! I hope he suffers!" With those words Draco stormed out of the office, disappointed.

Snape closed the door and sighed; Draco's last words had bothered him more than he was willing to admit. The chance of Professor Muto dying in the nearby future was too great for Snape not to worry. It was a shame that even children like Draco himself could be so corrupted so fast. But wasn't that what Professor Muto was here for? To prevent or even remove that kind of corruption. Snape shook his head, it wasn't possible.

* * *

><p>Yugi patiently waited in his office, chatting relaxed with Atem who was telling Yugi about how his teachers had treated him and Yugi hoped to get some ideas from it about what to do with Draco Malfoy. It soon turned out though that Atem's experiences were of little help.<p>

/_I wasn't such a bad kid. I was eager to learn and since I rarely had other things to do I studied a lot. I learned a lot very fast and they had seldom reason to be angered with me. It was the fact that I refused to give up that made sure that I could do anything they tasked me with. I learned several languages, I learned how to read and write and how the concept of Egyptian art works. I learned a lot about politics and the importance of knowing your people, previous Pharaoh's had left the country to suffer 'cause all they cared about were their own needs, I had history too naturally. I learned to ride a horse in several ways and you name it. I did nearly nothing but study until father died. In my spare time I was with Mana, if I ever got into trouble it was mostly due to her but Mahad kept a lot of bad from happening._/

"What did they do when they were angry with you?" Yugi wondered with a smile. He enjoyed hearing about Atem's past, but somehow it also made him sad. Atem had always felt as a person who belonged with Yugi and nowhere else but now Atem had his memories back it was more clear than ever that Atem had an entire life before Yugi and that they were indeed two very different persons that by a twist of faith were brought together. Yugi always thought of himself as selfish when those thoughts occurred, but it remained a fact that he felt that way.

/_They went to talk to dad and he usually took a chat with me. He knew very well that it was mostly Mana's doing but he enjoyed our mischief and he made clear that he wouldn't mind it as long as we kept it the way it was. Which we did, even after I became Pharaoh Mana kept jumping out of vases, cursed the guards and then forget how to lift the curse. She studied a lot too though, so we didn't play that often as we became older._/

"Well, I've met Mana, I have a hard time imagining that you'd be friends with someone like her", Yugi said with a snigger.

/_Mana and I fulfilled each other. She stood for all the disobedience I lacked and I stood for all the responsibility she lacked. We kept each other in balance and it was fun. Though she was more often annoyed by me than the other way around. Mahad deemed both of us hopeless though._/

Just as Atem finished someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Yugi yelled towards the door and as a faint 'Draco Malfoy' came from the other side Yugi walked towards it to open.

Draco Malfoy was glaring down on Yugi with a clear dislike in his gaze but Yugi wasn't bothered by it. He just turned his back on Malfoy, not fearing him the least and walked towards his desk. He sat down on his chair and started reading the essays the second years had given him that morning, they weren't outstanding but decent.

Malfoy looked forlorn where he was standing close by the door while Yugi ignored him. He rocked on his heels and fidgeted as he looked around at the bright interior. He couldn't help but notice how unpersonalized the office was. Nothing could ever trace back to who this foreign man was, he threw the door to his right a glance, he was sure it led to the Professor's room and he'd give a lot to see it. Despite the fact that he loathed the man he was undeniable curious about him.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Yugi asked after nearly half an hour after having finished half the pile of essays.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Malfoy asked harshly.

Yugi ignored the younger's tone and made a gesture towards the bookshelf. "Take something to read and sit down, the armchair in the corner is quite comfortable. There is a book to the far left of the bookshelf on the second shelf that you ought to read. I can recommend it."

Draco was well aware that it was no recommendation but a direct order and took the mentioned book. "This one?" he wondered to be safe.

"Let' see", Yugi ordered and looked up with a faint smile on his lips. Malfoy held up a copy of Anne Frank's Dairy and seemed displeased. "Yeah, that's the one."

"Who is she?" Draco asked, not the least interested.

"You'll see eventually", Yugi said and took the next essay on the slavery in north America and the war it lead to between north and south. He ignored Malfoy to the fullest once again but every now and then he looked up to see the blonde curled up in the armchair, reading with a frown on his forehead.

It took half an hour before Malfoy dared to complain, which was about twenty minutes longer than Yugi had expected. "This is boring, what point is there in reading this? She sounds like a bitch."

"She was, one of her classmates once told that she wasn't that nice at all. But read on, we are in no hurry", Yugi said, his calm smile still in place.

/_I wonder how long it takes before he goes insane by your annoying smile, the fact that you are completely ignoring him or because nothing he does faces you_/ Atem said and shook his head. /_What are you playing at Yugi?_/

Malfoy sighed deeply but returned to the book without complaining further. Yugi finished the pile with essays and stood up in order to put the essays in his classroom but he had forgotten about the door.

'_Jonouchi_' it said cheerfully, clearly having completely forgotten about last time it did so. Yugi couldn't find the least of sympathy with the piece of furniture that was simply doing as it had been ordered to and kicked it harshly.

'_Aw_' it wined, '_What was that good for?_'

Malfoy looked up from the book, clearly more interested in what happened between Yugi and the door than in the book.

"You know that very well! I don't want to hear that name again, I can't stand it. If you're not going to open then shut up."

'_Of course I won't open, you aren't the only one in here_' the door said, referring to Malfoy. '_And if you can't stand to hear it, then why did you make the password?_'

"Because it's foolproof", Yugi said, drained from energy. He walked back to his chair and dropped the essays on the desk, then he sat down and cursed lowly in Japanese. Draco went back to his book, just to be safe, he instinctively knew that he better didn't provoke the Professor right now.

Yugi was absolutely drained due to the doors repeatedly poorly chosen moments to ask for the password and considered changing it. It had been the same with Rebecca, Yugi had decided to talk to her in his room instead so they would be able to shut Hogwarts out of their system, but the door had asked for Sugoroku Muto, something that had horrified Rebecca more than Yugi had held for possible. He had feared that the girl would faint, which she hadn't, but it had been close.

Rebecca had been very angry with him for what he had nearly done to Umbridge and because he hadn't told her what was going on. Yugi had no choice but to explain his reasons to Rebecca. "It would be no good if you learned everything from me. Nearly no one here has an idea about what's going on. If you knew everything at once people would start asking questions which you shouldn't answer. It's better if you find out everything from sources the other students can comprehend."

Rebecca didn't have a choice but to agree and eventually they had whined up talking memories, a painful experience for Yugi, but he wouldn't deny that he was glad he had. It was as if he suddenly could remember his friends better. He had told Rebecca about Marik, Ishizu, Rishid and Noah and Rebecca even spoke to Atem. Atem and Rebecca discussed everything that had happened around the Orichalcos, a discussion Yugi found very interesting since he hadn't been around all the time. Atem told Rebecca what had happened on the train with Haga and how it had crashed and how they had met Ironheart, Chris and Sunny and how Kaiba got involved. Yugi found it fun to listen how Rebecca had helped Kaiba hack into his own company.

A smile appeared on Yugi's face once again at the thought of how annoyed Kaiba must have been at needing to get help from a ten year old to hack into his own system. Though even Rebecca had to admit that the Von Schroeders were superior when it came to computers. Yugi caught himself wondering what Leon was up to nowadays. Was he still a duelist or had he grown away from it? Yugi doubted it.

Rebecca and Atem finished the conversation with Atem telling Rebecca about his life before he was locked away in the puzzle. After she heard what had happened Rebecca was suddenly filled with a lot more of respect for the ancient spirit. She had always been worried about the spirits darkness, but now that was explained and long vanquished it was okay. Now she could relax and get to know him. Atem had ended the conversation with a cheerful, "I'm glad there is five thousand years between you and Mana, you two wouldn't have been able to stand each other. Yugi's got a class in five minutes, so I believe it's time for you to make your departure."

Rebecca, who had been lying stretched out on the bed staring at the draperies while Atem was sitting in the windowsill jumped up at those words, had sprinted out the room with a quick 'see ya' and left faster than Atem had held for possible.

"What are you smiling at?" a sharp voice asked annoyed.

"What?" Yugi wondered confused and was abruptly drawn away from the near memory. "Oh, eh, nothing special. Hackers and two very different people." He smiled at Draco and turned to stare out the window. He had a view over the Forbidden Forest and too his great surprise a skinny black horse-like creature with huge bat-like wings soared up from between the trees and circled above them before diving down among them once again. Yugi couldn't say it had looked very friendly. He turned away from the window once again and his mind went back to the werewolf Madam Hooch had told him about.

"Don't you have anything to do? It's impossible to read while there is someone in the room turning thumbs. Correct homework or something, I feel watched!" Malfoy complained.

In Yugi's eyes that was a reasonable complain so he decided to answer. "Actually I have nothing to do at all here, if these damn doors would oped I would be able to get something to do, but they won't!" He threw the doors a hateful glare but smiled at Malfoy. "If reading isn't an option would you rather do something else?"

Malfoy ignored the question but glared at the Professor. "Why are you being so sickening kind. Do you think you can win me over to your side with this calm kindness of yours?"

"What side would that be, mister Malfoy. Which are the sides and in which do I belong? Do you know these things?" Yugi wondered, cornering Malfoy with his own words. When the blonde didn't answer Yugi's smile disappeared. "I'm not being kind, I'm just avoiding to get angry. Rebecca reminded me what kind of terrible things happen when I do get angry, it's a good thing she showed up and stopped me before Professor Umbridge learned it first hand."

/_You're lying_/ Atem stated astonished. /_You're lying him straight in the face, I didn't even know you could do that!_/

/_It's something I've learned the past four years_/ Yugi answered grimly. /_It works though_/

Yugi was right, Draco Malfoy looked horrified. "What did you do to her?"

"Well, she tried to jinx me, I avoided and challenged her to a game. It's a very old game, you're punished when you break the rules. Do you know how many people break them, it's incredible", Yugi said, still with a calm smile on his face that widened slightly. "How far have you come?"

Malfoy stood up and gave Yugi the book so he could see for himself. Yugi nodded satisfied and took the book, he put a piece of paper between it and told Malfoy to put it back on the same spot where he had taken it from.

"It's ten o'clock. You better be off now. I see you again tomorrow, I'll be sure to bring work so you can read in peace", Yugi said with a genuine smile on his face as Malfoy opened the door and left.

/_What kind of detention was that?_/ Atem wondered incredulous.

"One that will pay off in the long run. Have you ever read Anne Frank?" Yugi wondered curiously.

Atem shook his head where he was standing next to the bookshelf. /_Never._/

"Well you should, It's a classic. It can be boring at times, but … The feeling when she talks about her dreams and her future plans while you know that they'll never come true, it makes you cry. Nearly everyone in the non-magical world knows that Anne Frank does not survive the war and when you know that while reading you can't do anything but cry as she with such hope and passions describes how much she wants to be an author. Draco Malfoy does not know that she'll die, I want to see his reaction. It could just be sufficient to make him reevaluate, to make him learn from previous mistakes."

/_I see, I didn't know. It might just work_/ Atem said, still frowning.

"Or it might not work at all", Yugi said, not sounding very brought down by that possibility. "I'm just trying to change things that are rooted deep within, the chance I'll fail is greater than the odds that I will succeed."

* * *

><p>Rebecca sat in the Ravenclaw common room that evening, her thoughts five thousand years back in time. She was curled up in a blue armchair close to one of the elegantly arched windows in the circular common room under a bronze and blue blanket. She was freezing, though she didn't know why.<p>

"Is a person allowed to interrupt this deep thinking?" Peter wondered and waved a hand before Rebecca's face.

Rebecca's gaze retrieved its focus and looked up startled. "How long have you been here? It's late and the common room was deserted just a second ago."

"I've been here for nearly two hours! Didn't you notice me coming in? Me who was thinking that you were just being an overall bitch", Peter smiled and shook his head. "I was waiting for you to react to something, but since all you did was staring out the window I came to check if you were still alive."

"I'm fine", Rebecca said and yawned. She threw the blanket off her and stood up. "Thanks."

"So what were you thinking about?" he wondered curiously.

"About a person who was unbelievably brave", Rebecca said and smiled then she yawned one again. "I believe you and I should talk more tomorrow, if you want."

Peter snorted. "Don't think I'm interested in having a friend, I just wanted to warn you earlier."

Rebecca smiled widely. "That's fine by me. I have been doing fine without friends a long while, I think I can manage without you too."

The condescending expression disappeared from Peter's face. It was clearly not the reply he had hoped for. "Eh, okay", he said crestfallen but he was too proud to take his words back. With hanging head he walked towards the stairs that led to the boys dormitories.

Rebecca was still smiling as she gathered the stuff she had left in the common room. Then her gaze fell upon a picture that was sticking out between the pages of a book that laid forlorn upon one of the many bookshelf that covered the midnight blue carpet. She had to stand on her toes but eventually she managed to reach them. Rebecca now was able to actually see what was on the picture.

She closed her eyes and cried as she saw the picture of a little glass box that showed small figures of Monster World. There was no doubt about who represented who, even the Pharaoh was present. She recalled the white haired boy to be Ryou Bakura, one of the few who had survived the attack in the tomb. She guessed that the angry looking one was the dark priest she had heard so much about.

This was the book Yugi had given to her after her second class with him which had been the previous Friday. She had looked all over the place for it the weekend after, but had been unable to locate it. She quickly put the picture between the pages when she heard footsteps coming down from the boys dormitories. She held the book tight as she ran up the stairs towards her own room. She didn't dare looking behind her to see who it was.

Rebecca dived in bed and could only pray that no one of the other girls in her year was awake but she wasn't that lucky. Luna Lovegood was sitting in the arched window looking at the stars but she looked up at Rebecca when she entered the room. Rebecca had expected hard to avoid questions but all Luna did was look at her and smile. "Go to sleep", Luna said. "It's easier to sleep when you've just cried. Nothing will have changed tomorrow, but for some reason everyone is supposed to feel better the day after." Luna stood up, sat down on her bed and drew the curtains shut without saying another word.

"Thank you", Rebecca whispered genuinely but doubted that Luna had heard her. After that Rebecca kept staring at the picture under the blankets. She had finally managed to achieve the wand-lighting charm correctly.

* * *

><p>"He said he couldn't use it!" Hermione said angered. "He said that they only obey the Pharaoh and no one else!"<p>

"Who cares Hermione?" Ron wondered. "Whatever happened it was to put Umbridge in place! It's not like he harmed any of the good ones!"

Hermione stared at him with such a frightening expression that Ron took several steps back. "The fact remains that he lied. And look what he did to Umbridge!"

"Look at what Umbridge tried to do to him", Harry defended the Professor, "Every other teacher would have reacted too!"

"You don't get it, do you?" Hermione asked. "It isn't about what he did or what someone did to him. What matters is that he does control these Shadows and he lied to us about it!"

"Well, I'd lie too if I controlled such awesome powers. They'd be my secret", Ron said.

"Those powers aren't awesome! People were killed and robbed of their souls to create it, it's dark magic Ron, one that exceeds any other. What he just did was the most powerful piece of magic skill that I have ever seen! Professor Muto would be able to kill each and every one of us in the school in a couple of minutes time. We don't know how these powers work but did you see Rebecca's expression, she was scared!" Hermione raged. "Scared for Umbridge's sake even!"

"Do you think Professor Muto is mightier than Voldemort?" Harry wondered silently, stopping Hermione's furious preach.

Ron and Hermione stared at him for a while. Then Ron turned towards Hermione who nodded. "I believe so, though you are the only one who can truly know. You've fought him, you know how powerful he is."

"I've never fought Professor Muto", Harry said casually. "So I don't know his strength." He thought about Umbridge's expression when she saw her wand in Professor Muto's hands and he shuddered; he didn't want to get on the wrong side with him.

"The Prophecy didn't say anything about power", Ron remarked dryly. "I don't think Professor Muto will be part in this war."

"That Prophecy makes no sense!" Hermione hissed, suddenly all angry again.

"I believe it does", Ron said. "I've thought about it. Do you know what Professor Muto seeks that destroys? I can name one thing."

"What?" Harry and Hermione asked simultaneously, but with two very different tones. Harry eager, Hermione annoyed.

"Revenge. It'd only make sense", Ron said, then turning his voice into a whisper while becoming all red, "I'd want to avenge you if you were killed."

Hermione turned red too and there was an awkward silence that lasted a bit too long to be saved.  
>Eventually it was Hermione who broke it, whispering, "The rest of the Prophecy still makes no sense."<p>

Another pause followed but didn't last long as Ginny walked in, her face still covered in blood.

"Good Lord, Ginny! What have you done?" Ron called out.

"I've just returned from Madam Pomfrey, I broke my nose getting a door slammed in my face", she explained briefly. "Now if you'd excuse me, I'm going to wash my face."

* * *

><p>So I wondered whether just to skip the last part but decided not to. Ah, well, I made something out of it.<p>

As for Anne Frank, the classmate I wrote about does exist. She hid with friends of my grandmother during WWII, so this is nearly first hand information. Anne was clearly very cocky and wasn't often very nice. I can really recommend the book to anyone and though it is boring you have to look around the every day like life that is described and look at it as a person knowing what will happen. It's worth the effort.

Anyway people. Review! Tell me what you think! Good? Bad? Left? Right? Up? Down? Hmm, I won't ask the impossible. But there is a shiny blue button down below that prays to be clicked upon. If you do you get chessboards … eh, no … I meant cookies.


	12. Throwing Fact In Your Face

Usually I like to smalltalk a little at the beginning of a chapter. But since I always write this once I'm done with the chapter I feel it'd be very inappropriate right now.

I just really need to warn those of you that are sensitive, this chapter holds some really terrible facts which you won't appreciate. Though I think its important that this will never be forgotten and since the interest in what happened is low nowadays this is the perfect way to spread it. I hope you'll cry for them, I didn't, but certainly feel weird.

* * *

><p>The following weeks went by without much drama. Yugi had never gotten the result of Umbridge's inspection and he couldn't say he minded.<p>

Draco couldn't do much but accept the fact that Yugi was able to give him detention and that he would be having detention until he finished the book, it took him two weeks of detention. Yugi noticed when Draco had nearly finished the book and he had put his quill down, closely he had studied the Slytherin to see his reaction. A horrified expression had emerged on the blonde's face just a split second, then he had looked up and when he noticed that Yugi was watching him he closed the book forcefully and had retrieved a cold and condescending expression. Draco had handed Yugi the book with one question: "Can I go now?"  
>Yugi had nodded and watched boy walk out his study. He had been disappointed although he had expected something alike. Atem had comforted Yugi but Yugi had reminded the spirit that this was something that would take time and that he was not giving up yet.<p>

Rebecca was surprised that she hadn't been confronted by anyone about breaking Ginny's broken nose and Rebecca wasn't stupid enough to ask Ginny about it. In the mean while she and Peter were hanging out more frequently, constantly reminding each other that neither of them had any desire to have friends.  
>When Yugi had heard the two of them he had smiled but not commented, though Rebecca knew him well enough to know what he was thinking and went red. She knew she was proud and no matter what Yugi thought she wasn't going to lose her pride first.<p>

Harry, Ron and Hermione had taken a great distant from Yugi and the teacher understood why of course, Dean kept the same kind of distance though Yugi appreciated that Seamus seemed to be unaware of everything Dean knew.

The game Atem had played on Umbridge had different consequences. The teachers were wary but not unfriendly towards him. Some teachers like McGonagall and Madam Hooch seemed to admire him slightly for what he had done, though they wouldn't show it. Others, like Snape and Trelawney seemed to avoid him at any cost. Of course had Dumbledore confronted him, but he had been fair enough to confront Atem rather than Yugi.

'I understand the need to protect yourself, but please do not repeat such an act in front of a class' was what Dumbledore had said and Atem had nodded, but made no promise. Also had Dumbledore warned him once again for the dangers that were coming from all directions.

Among the students the opinion on what had happened had great variation too. Some students, like Fred and George Weasley had come up to him and openly expressed their gratefulness. Others, like the most first years were at unease in his presence due to what they had heard.

* * *

><p>Yugi had gotten into the regular teacher state of mind and was brought out of it again when Dobby appeared one Thursday morning with information that pleased Yugi a lot. Yugi had just made his bed when Dobby entered the room.<p>

"Good day to you Dobby", Yugi said with a smile. He had been waiting for the elf, since he always showed up earlier or later and Yugi knew how disappointed Dobby would be if he wasn't there when the elf showed up.

"Listen Yugi, sir!" Dobby squeaked anxiously and was hopping up and down from sheer excitement.

"I always do", Yugi said as he walked towards the little desk in his room to collect the assignment for the fifth years. He was nearly done with the second world war and he had been pleased with what he had achieved among the students simply by telling them about it.

"Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley have convinced Harry Potter into teaching the other students Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione Granger has spread among trustworthy students that they'll be meeting in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade this weekend!" Dobby rambled hastily, eager to provide Yugi with the information.

Yugi looked up, surprised by the actual importance of the elf's information. Usually it were fun facts or things only elves deemed important that Yugi heard from the elf. This however was very useful information. The smile disappeared from Yugi's face.

/_We have to act now_/ Yugi told Atem, thinking deeply.

/_Yes, we do_/ Atem agreed. /_Thank you very much, Dobby_/ he added and bowed his head towards the elf, /_you're information is of great use and Yugi and I have to get to work immediately_/

Yugi and Atem conversed much during breakfast and the classes after that. After lunch he went to his next class with a sense of awe in his stomach. He had to play his cards correctly, the students needed to be in the exact state of mind Yugi needed if he wanted to be able to pull his plan through.

He opened the doors to let the students in, with Atem standing right behind him as mental support. They entered the classroom, the mood dim as always. It was this class in particular that had taken the incident between Yugi and Umbridge negative, probably because they had been there.

"Okay", he said loud and clear to call upon attention. "This will be the last lesson regarding the second world war I hope and today we will be covering the final but probably most gruesome parts of the second world war. We will be covering the Concentration camps, nuclear weapons and if we have time the liberation, if not we will take the liberation on Monday."

Several Gryffindors closed their eyes. They had heard enough about the concentration camps to know that it'd be a very unpleasant lesson, like they nearly almost were when covering the subject of the second world war.

"Just to see, how many of you know what a Concentration camp was?"

The ones who had closed their eyes raised their hands, among them were Seamus, Hermione and Dean.

"Okay then, since knowledge of these is nearly nothing I'll start from the beginning. As you all know where Jews, Gipsies, homosexuals and several others loathed, refused the right to live. I've stated this several times before, but never has a single one of you asked what happened to them if caught." Yugi threw a glance towards Malfoy, he knew that Anne Frank hadn't survived, but he didn't know what had happened to her exactly. It was about time to see how corrupted Malfoy was. "If someone was caught they'd be send to either a Concentration or Extermination camp, which are two different things and the family hiding them were often put against the wall and shot, the most common way of executing people."

Yugi certainly had the attention of the entire class now, they listened with expressions of disgusted fascination and terror.

"Already in 1933 were the first camps established, they were aimed for political opponents, mostly communists and could be everything from torture chambers to prisons and older camps. Most of those were chaos, the exception was Dachau which was established by Heinrich Himmler and run by Theodore Eicke. Dachau was well organized and functioned in a way which would later be efficient to all camps. The Gestapo, the political police, did the arresting, the SS managed the camps."

He took a pause to make sure that everyone was taking the information in, but he needn't worry, everyone was listening. Atem was listening too, he didn't know this part of history and he was sitting on the chair behind Yugi's desk with a disgusted expression that matched that of the students. Yugi himself was standing in the middle of the V-formated benches and made sure that his voice didn't get monotone.

"Himmler and Eicke got soon more powerful thanks to Hitler's influence and they both were of the opinion that Germany should be cleared from Jews and others 'undesired'. In 1936/1937 Eicke had two new camps build and these were the two first actual concentration camps, since they were build for that purpose. They were Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald, two very famous Concentration camps nowadays, though not number one."

These were familiar names to Malfoy and he wasn't pleased. Yugi realized that this was rather cruel, but he had to make this get to Malfoy as hard as possible.  
>The students were starting to frown, Yugi realized that he was going to slow and that they needed to be hit with full force quick if her wanted to keep their attention. That wasn't accurate in all cases, many were still listening interested but Millicent Bulstrode, Lavender Brown and Vincent Crabbe were loosing their concentration.<p>

"The amount of prisoners was increasing faster than anyone had counted on and two more camps were established, this time Flossenburg och Mauthausen. Germany was short of manpower and Himmler saw the solution in the concentration camps, in 1938 he turned Mauthausen and Flossenburg into quarries and Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald started to produce bricks. During that time Jews were just a minor part of the concentration camps, since these were used to scare Jews into moving out of Germany. Now we have reached the beginning of the war, where things that already were terrible turned into hell."

The students that had started to doze of were awoken by Yugi's tone and they suddenly all sat up straight.

"When the war started the amount of prisoners increased fast cause the groups of 'undesired' people were many. Not only Jews and gipsies but also Soviet war-prisoners, Poles and mentally retarded. Many new Concentration camps were build but there were simply too many people they had to deal with and thus started Himmler with a new plan. Many people in the Concentration camps were unable to work, often mentally retarded weren't able too do so and thus they were of no use even in there. Himmler's plan was called Action T4 and was to gas every mentally retarded that entered the camp to death immediately. Of course they didn't stick to mentally retarded people, with Action 14f13 any person unable to work was selected by so called T4 doctors and gassed to death, but also random people were selected to be gassed to death due to their race or political opinion. At least 14 000 died in that way. Since this wasn't enough to stop the abundance of prisoners more plans alike targeted random groups of 'unwanted' people like plan 14f14. With 14f14 the different ways of execution were depending on the camps. In Auschwitz, the most famous concentration camp, they used Zyklon B-gas. These were mass murder techniques that later would develop into the Final Solution."

To Yugi's great satisfaction sat several people with tears in their eyes. Dean Thomas held Tracey Davis hand as she with her other hand repeatedly wiped the tears from her face. Others were sitting with the beginning of anger on their faces, the kind of anger that led to rebellion, the anger Yugi required. Now he had to increase that feeling.

"Hitler needed more weapons because the war hadn't been as successful as he had hoped and thus he turned the concentration camps into war fabrics, creating weapons and other things required for the war in 1942, during the same time the Final Solution was established, Final Solution was to rid entire Europe of Jews. The first Extermination camps were established. Can anyone tell me the difference between Concentration and Extermination camps?"

Seamus raised his hand and straightened his back, but did no effort to wipe the tears from his face. Yugi nodded at him, both to allow him to speak and to acknowledge the strength he showed.

"The concentration camps were places where you were supposed to work, in some rare cases you could be released and everyone was send there, political opponents and common criminals as well as 'undesired' and they were place filled with slave labor, illness, little food and exhaustion. Extermination camps were different, they were for Jews mainly and they killed people systematical, mostly as soon the people arrived in gas chambers, but there were also combined Concentration and Extermination camps who kept a minor part of the new prisoners alive so they could die due to starvation, exhaustion, sickness or by random mass-shooting while working."

Yugi nodded. "Very good, you know a lot about it."

Seamus turned red and looked away. "Grandpa was part of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, sometimes he told us, he didn't want us to ever forget how terrible people could be."

"Can you tell what kind of camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was?" Yugi asked, pushing the Gryffindor further.

"It was combined, was in Poland, it was one of the worst. Most people died there." Seamus looked away and wiped his tears. Yugi and Seamus were equally surprised as Tracey leaned backwards so she could put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. She gave him a weak smile which he returned, grateful but confused. A low fuss erupted among the Slytherins.

/_I'm proud of her_/ Atem remarked lowly. /_She is brave, I think you chose the right person._/

"People arrived at the camps, regardless of which kind of camp by train. Many died already during that trip due to dehydration. A Swedish diplomat described what happened in Belzec, which was a Extermination camp that killed everyone that arrived within a couple of hours. With exception of the Sonderkommando, which were workable Jewish men who were allowed to live four months and do the dirty work. The diplomat couldn't interfere but he wanted to alert the rest of the world about what was going on, which is what he did." Yugi picked up a book and opened it at the place the corner of the page was folded. "Let me read this to you: '_Unterscharführer Hackenholt was making great efforts to get the engine running. But it doesn't go. Captain Wirth comes up. I can see he is afraid, because I am present at a disaster. Yes, I see it all and I wait. My stopwatch showed it all, 50 minutes, 70 minutes, and the diesel engine did not start. The people wait inside the gas chambers. In vain. They can be heard weeping, "like in the synagogue", says Professor Pfannenstiel, his eyes glued to a window in the wooden door. Furious, Captain Wirth lashes the Ukrainian prisoner assisting Hackenholt twelve, thirteen times, in the face. After 2 hours and 49 minutes — the stopwatch recorded it all — the diesel started. Up to that moment, the people shut up in those four crowded chambers were still alive, four times 750 persons, in four times 45 cubic meters. Another 25 minutes elapsed. Many were already dead, that could be seen through the small window, because an electric lamp inside lit up the chamber for a few moments. After 28 minutes, only a few were still alive. Finally, after 32 minutes, all were dead. Dentists then hammered out gold teeth, bridges, and crowns. In the midst of them stood Captain Wirth. He was in his element, and, showing me a large can full of teeth, he said: "See, for yourself, the weight of that gold! It's only from yesterday, and the day before. You can't imagine what we find every day — dollars, diamonds, gold. You'll see for yourself!_'"

Parvati Patill sat with her face buried in her hands and Lavender Brown held an arm around the girl with a blank expression on her face wich told Yugi that she was refusing to progress the information. Hermione Granger cried too and Ron Weasley didn't seem to know what to do, eventually he put a hand on Hermione's back while Harry was more comfortable with comforting the clever girl as a flaming anger burned behind his glasses. Malfoy was pale, now that he knew what exactly had happened to the girl and her family which he had read about he was shaking with disbelieve. Daphne Greengrass was crying too, something Gregory Goyle was very uncomfortable with. Blaise Zabini looked confused, Yugi assumed that he was the first to make the connection.

"Many of these people were told that they'd be deloused and the SS working in the camps played that theatre good, really good. They small talked about camp life, they helped the young and the older to undress, gave them even towels in some cases, they even went in with them untill the door would close. Someone was always waiting outside the door as if he'd been receiving them after they'd 'showered'."

"How could they all fall for that?" Hermione wondered horrified.

"They didn't, already after they left the train he SS removed the ones who would warn the rest of the prisoners and shot them; and then there were the people that realized that there was nothing they could do. Those people could joke with the children while mortal fear was visible in their own eyes. Many guessed while in there. Many mothers tried to hide their children under their clothes, there were SS walking around the changing rooms just to prevent that. Mothers were encouraged to take their children with them. It is said that the people in there didn't suffer, they died before feeling anything. But does any of you think that matters? Do you think pain could bypass the fear they felt, many went hysteric while undressing, those were taking outside and shot."

Yugi made a shrugging gesture. He had to take a break himself if he didn't want to start crying. The students were in shock, each and every single one of them. Atem was too.

"Are you all still listening or is better if we take a break?" he asked.

"Can't we finish this now?" Parvati wondered without looking up. "I don't want to know that I'll be entering this class next Monday to know that I'll be hearing the continuation of this."

"I agree", Tracey said and several others nodded.

"Okay then, but listen", Yugi said and the ones who had been staring out the window or down at their benches looked at him. "After they died they had to get rid of the corpses, which they did by burning at that point since burrying them took too much time. Though in Bergen-Belsen they burried people in mass graves, a girl named Anne Frank lays there", Yugi said and looked directly at Malfoy. "She died from illness, a typhus epidemic got hold of the camp in the winter of 44. Many died, Anne and her older sister Margot were nothing to the SS that burried them. They disappeared among the other dead faces."

Malfoy's expression shifted between an anger turned directly towards Yugi and devastation. He didn't cry, but he was close. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Crabbe and Goyle were watching him.

Yugi just carried on with a voice filled with emotion, many different emotions. Bitterness, determination and sadness were the strongest to color his tone "First dentist checked for golden teeth and things alike and then the Sonderkommando took over. The heads of the dead persons were shaved so the stench would be less when they were burned. The Sonderkommando's worked with surprising diligence, according to Hackenholt, although they knew that the same fate was waiting for them. It happened that a Sonderkommando encountered the corpse of a relative and although they were visibly affected by it, no problems ever occure due to it. There is an example of a Sonderkommando who encountered his dead wife, he didn't react at all, which is probably the greatest of reactions." Yugi took a deep breath. "There is so much more to these camps, like Josef Mengele also known as the Angel of Death, who did medical experiments on prisoners, like trying to change the eye color from brown to blue by injecting ink, which often resulted in blindness. He preferred doing experiments on dwarfs and twins. Some of these experiments involved vivisection and operations in which he randomly took away different parts of the body. Many of his operations and experiments were done without anesthesia, turning it into torture. He also injected chloroform directly in the hearts of victims so he could work with fresh corpses."

Loud protests erupted in the class, they were filled with disgust and disbelieve. None of them seemed to know what to do with their hands or where to look. Most of them settled for comforting their neighbors and stared at their benches but when Yugi told them about Josef Mengele they were all watching him with a sort of plea in their eye, a plea that wanted him to say that it wasn't true.

Yugi sighed. "Quiet! It is true and nothing I can say can change that. I could deny it, make it disappear in history but the reason I am here is actually to throw history in your face and make you feel it. This you'll never forget, cause it is something that fills you with grief and anger. You hate to hear that some prisoners were given salt water to see if they could live on that, they went insane, to the point of licking newly cleaned floors just to get some mort of fluid in their system. You hate to hear this, but you must. All of this wasn't even a mistake, this was evil. Now there is only one more thing I want to tell you before you can all leave."

The students nodded, some were still trying to stop the flood of tears and others had clenched their jaws with anger.

"But first, which teacher do you have after the break?" he asked no one in particular.

"McGonagall", Neville Longbottom said and repeatedly wiped his eyes.

"Professor Flitwick", Tracey said and did the same as Neville.

"Okay, I'll have to talk with them", Yugi said. "As for the thing I wanted to say. I taught you this for one reason only. Look at what happened then and I pray that you all do so with anger, sadness and disgust, I hope that none of you is inhumane enough not to care. If so … that's a very lost soul, a soul that once would be ripped away to prevent it from growing stronger. Then when you look back, compare it to what is going on now. I suppose that you all know what I mean but still … You Slytherins, your house is so well known for its Death Eaters, can you see your parents, your family as SS and Gestapo and be proud of them? You Gryffindors, said to have brave hearts, where are those brave hearts? How many of you refuse to believe that this is happening until it's too late?  
>Let me just put it this way: Theodore Nott, could you kill Hermione Granger, someone you've known ever since you started school? Ron Weasley, could you burn her corpse without reacting to it?"<p>

/_Yugi?_/ Atem wondered alarmed as horrified expressions appeared on the students faces.

Yugi ignored both the Pharaoh and the expression of the students. "I think you can."

Loud protests erupted throughout the classroom once again and Yugi let them hold a while. It was Zabini who didn't protest at once but waited until the protests had faded to ask: "Why, Professor?"

"In the U.S they did a test on university students that learned medicine, though these students didn't know that. A certain amount of students signed up and each individual had to enter a room with a lot of fancy instruments. There was a Professor there that told them that a volunteer had signed up for a test in which they'd see how much electricity you could send through a humans body and what it did to that human. All the students had to do was increase the strength of the chocks and push the button. Now the students couldn't see the man, but they could hear him. They pushed the button a first time and nothing happened, they increased power and pushed a second time and they could hear a little whimper, so they went on. Eventually the man was screaming with agony bypassing most of yours imagination and yet the students carried on pushing the button whenever the professor told them to."

Atem and the rest of the class were frowning, uncertain about where this was going.

"Of course this was all fake, the man was an actor and the instruments weren't real, though that doesn't matter. Each and every single student went on until they had reached far over deadly amounts, all of them. When they were asked why all they could say was: 'Because he told us to.' People shut down after a while, become zombie-like. They just do as them is told without thinking, it was what these students did! It was what happened in the Concentration and Extermination camps. This part of survival instinct is vital to us, yet if someone knows how to use it they have far more control over one than if they use the Imperius curse! I hope this knowledge is of any use to you when pure warfare falls upon us, cause heed my words, it is nearby and this is what will happen. Class dismissed."

The students didn't leave the classroom with a lot of noise and talk but sat still, deep in thought. Eventually Neville Longbottom got up and left the room quietly, staring at the ground in deep thoughts. It took a while but the rest followed his example.

Luckily for Yugi Tracey was one of the last people to leave. "Tracey Davis, I want a word with you", he said so that as few people as possible would hear.

She looked surprised and not very pleased, but obeyed. When the last person, Dean Thomas, had left and closed the doors he sat down on his desk. Yugi liked sitting on furniture you weren't supposed to sit on. Desks, tables, armrests and kitchen dressers, they all sufficed.

"Miss Davis", Yugi started. "You once stated that even some of you would fight against him. Did you refer to yourself or were it empty words?"

Tracey looked at him and thought a couple of minutes. "Someone needs to change what's going on. Professor Umbridge doesn't prepare us for anything, the Ministry has put its head in the sand like an ostrich and people are attacked and disappear at random. It's scary, I'm scared but I believe ..." She took another pause. "... I believe I'd fight nonetheless once hell comes crashing down. Why?"

"A rebellion is starting this weekend. A more skilled teacher will teach the students willing to oppose Umbridge to prepare them for when Voldemort comes out in the open." Yugi was disturbed when Tracey winced violently at the name. "Why do you fear the name?" he wondered slightly annoyed. "A name is just a name, if I say You-Know-Who or Voldemort do you see anything different? By now the name You-Know-Who should indulge more fear than the name Voldemort does."

"Yes, Professor, I know", Tracey sighed. "It's just not wise to say the name. My parents have always taught me that. See, in the previous war there was a taboo on the name, speaking it would summon Death Eaters immediately", she explained.

Yugi was very disturbed by that fact and bit his lip. "I better take heed to that warning. Thank you, if you're uncomfortable with it I won't speak the name again", he said.

"It's fine, but what about the rebellion?" she wondered sincerely interested, in the good way.

"So you'd be willing to join a student group that will go behind Umbridge's back to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Yugi wondered. "Despite the fact the probably overall distrust and dislike will be direct towards you. I assume you realize that you'll be the only Slytherin attending the group."

"I can do that. It doesn't matter what they think, what matters is that we can do defend ourselves!" she said affronted.

"Good, that's the attitude I desired", Yugi said satisfied. "It was Hermione Grangers idea to start this rebellion and she wants Harry Potter to teach you all. She has spread the message among people she thought to be trustworthy and to make sure that Umbridge won't find out. Now _I_ am telling you. I'm offering you the chance to proof that they can't automatically assume that you Slytherins will side with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, if you fail that chance you'll ruin it for everyone in your house. I'm taking a huge gamble and if you would go to their meeting this weekend you'll be tasked with something very tough. Think about it thoroughly, you should know I did."

"Professor", she said fairly quickly. "That class you taught today was amazing, terrible yet amazing. I'd be a coward if I'd simply watch the Wizarding World slip into something like that without trying to do anything about it simply because I'm afraid of what others would think. I'm going to fight and I'm going to stand opposite Voldemort, all I need to know is where the meeting is."

That she spoke the name was enough to convince Yugi of Tracey's genuine desire to support the rebellion that Hermione Granger was attempting to start. "Very good. The meeting is at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade this weekend. Please don't tell anyone I told you about this, I'd like to stay anonymous in my slight attempts to change the course of where this is heading, it'd be much easier for me."

Tracey nodded. "I can understand that, I believe."

"Now you should go before someone wonders where you disappeared to", Yugi said with a smile. "Be careful."

Tracey nodded again. "I will. Thank you very much Professor, I believe you're doing more than you realize." With those words she hurried out of the classroom towards her next class.

/_Well Yugi, finally you're starting to believe the best about people again and for once it paid of rather than that you got yourself in trouble_/ Atem said and Yugi could simply hear the teasing smile in his voice.

"That's not funny", he said, not the least amused but Atem didn't care. "Ah, well, now we only have to tell Rebecca and then make use of my skill in dealing with tugs in alleys."

/_You're going to crash the meeting?_/ Atem wondered.

"Yes, but they won't know that", Yugi said and flashed a smile at the empty room. "I believe I'm going to need those black robes."

* * *

><p>Harry was sure that Professor McGonagall got one of the greatest surprises in her life when she saw an entire group of fifth years coming late nearly all with clear traces of tears on their faces. Some of them had done an attempt to hide the fact that they'd been crying but McGonagall noticed it at once.<p>

"Dear Lord", she said confused and worried. "What's happened to you all?"

It was Neville who was gathered enough to say: "Professor Muto will explain to you. Some of us are still in shock so don't expect to much out of us today."

The Hufflepuffs they had Transfiguration with erupted into loud questions but not one of the Gryffindors was alert enough to answer or even care about the other students.

"This is unacceptable!" McGonagall protested. "I believe I'll have to talk to Dumbledore about this. No Professor should leave any student in this kind of state. Just look at you all!"

What McGonagall said was understandable Harry noticed. Ron had his face buried in his hands and was clearly very taken by the example Professor Muto had set. The mental image of Ron dealing with Hermione's dead corpse the way that had been described was something that he was sure to haunt his dreams. Yet Ron was in clear shock due to the very same thing. He had been very pale ever since Professor Muto had started quoting the notes of the Swedish diplomat but he had gradually begun growing green when he heard the example the odd teacher had set.

Parvati Patill was nearly hysterical, she couldn't stop crying at all and she soon gave up the attempts. She cried silently in her bench and Harry wouldn't have been surprised if she'd started screaming, he wouldn't have blamed her. He felt like doing so himself.  
>Lavender who was sitting next to Parvati was of little comfort to her friend. She was staring straight forward with an expression of devastation and she kept whispering: "I didn't know that, I didn't know that."<p>

Seamus was sitting with a murderous expression on his face that made sure that everyone avoided him but Harry supposed that it was Seamus's way of dealing with everything he'd just heard. After all, Seamus family had been part of the entire story. Harry could compensate with him just as well as with Parvati, the two feelings clashed within him.

Neville had an expression of hopelessness but also of pride on his face. It was a bitter pride that Harry found unnerving but than he remembered what Moody had told him about Neville's parents. They had gone insane after being tortured by a Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange. They had fought to stop things like these they had just been told about and Harry suddenly realized that Neville was thinking just as much about the families hiding the 'undesired' as about those who ended up in the Concentration or Extermination camps. Those families who'd sacrificed their lives and who were only briefly mentioned. Certainly Harry understood why Professor Muto hadn't mentioned these families more clearly, but still... The feeling of emptiness within Harry increased even further.

Dean seemed to be the one of them who was coping best. He had a grim expression but his mind seemed to be somewhere else. Harry could have sworn that he'd been holding Tracey's hand throughout the class and Harry understood that his thoughts were there, Tracey had seemed devastated when she heard Professor Muto tell about the horrible things that had happened. Harry found the relation between the two very interesting and he hoped that they'd be okay. As far as he knew there had never been a relation between a Gryffindor and Slytherin, at least not open and he was sure it would lead to trouble.

Hermione was pale too, like most Gryffindors in the class were. She whispered something very low and Harry was sure that what she was saying was pure fact on something on NEWT level. Something to keep her mind in order so she wouldn't collapse, but she clearly found it difficult. Hermione was simply in deep shock, just like Ron.

How he was doing himself Harry didn't know. What he did know was that he, like Neville, was one of the few able to speak. "No", he said. "Don't go complain to Dumbledore. All Professor Muto did was throw fact in our face, we needed it."

McGonagall looked very shocked and disbelieving and for a moment Harry was uncertain about how he looked. If he looked anything like Seamus he wouldn't blame her for questioning his opinion on the matter. Yet Neville came to his aid: "He's right Professor. We might have taken it hard now, but what he did was good. I'm willing to sleep terrible a couple of nights to have heard what I just heard. I didn't know and I'm so glad that it changed. I gained something Professor and I'm sure I am not the only one. He could just have made the little difference that is required." With these words Neville went back to his brooding, completely unaddressable.

Dean was the only one who had registered what had been said too. "There is nothing to add to it. Professor Muto doesn't aim for what any other teacher aims for and uses his own methods and although they are harsh, they're the most effective I've ever seen."

Professor McGonagall just shook her head. "I'm looking forward to that explanation", she said, her tone somewhere between disbelieve and fear. Her normally stern face was now showing worry beyond measure.

Harry who had been keeping a close eye on Ron wasn't surprised when Ron just stood up and walked out of the classroom.

Professor McGonagall was about to protest but Harry was faster. "Let him go Professor, he's in shock and especially he has every reason to be, I believe he won't be able to do much here anyway." The Gryffindor head of house did not protest to Harry's great surprise, but she seemed very out of balance all the sudden. She sat down on the chair of one of the free benches and left Dean and Harry to take care of the shocked Gryffindors.

Harry swiftly moved over to Hermione, ignored her whispers and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise and turned around quickly. "Oh, Harry", she said her voice filled with relief. Harry didn't want to know who she'd been expecting.

"You should go after Ron, he took it very hard. I believe he blames himself for something that hasn't ever been done."

Hermione's gaze lit up with understanding and she stood up hastily. "He's such an idiot", she said with a tone that Harry couldn't describe in any other way but loving. She quickly left the classroom.

The Hufflepuffs had fallen silent and they were watching the Gryffindors with awe written on their faces. They looked scared for understandable reasons.

Dean was with Lavender and Parvati, clearly he hadn't dared dealing with his best friend yet. Dean was trying to get a reaction out of Lavender but he didn't succeed. He left the girl to stare as he checked upon Parvati. "I'd ask you if you're okay, but that obviously is a stupid question. Do you need to go to the hospital wing or something?" he asked gently, hiding his grim expression.

"No, I don't", Parvati sobbed through her tears. "I just want to see Padma."

Understanding dawned upon Dean. "You have a twin." Harry put a hand on his mouth, he hadn't thought about that either. Dean continued calmly, "I didn't think about that, I'm sorry. You know where she is?"

"She's having Charms with the Slytherins right now", Parvati sobbed.

"Okay" Dean said, still calm in a way Harry couldn't help but admire deeply. "We'll first bring Lavender to the hospital wing, then we'll go find Professor Flitiwck. I'm sure he has the same problem with the Slytherins right now." Dean and Harry simultaneously threw McGonagall a look but the teacher just nodded and started to instruct the Hufflepuffs.

Neville was clearly sticking to what he said because he followed McGonagalls instructions and since there was no way that Harry was going to approach Seamus when he was wearing such an expression there was no other option left for him but to join the class, there wasn't a chance in the world that he'd go see Madam Pomfrey now.

Suddenly he wasn't looking up towards the meeting this weekend anymore. He'd prepare as many students as he could so they'd be able to fight whatever was approaching, he'd let them know what he knew. If he could gather some inspiration from Professor Muto he was sure that he'd be fine.

* * *

><p>Just for your information, this was all fact. I didn't make anything that Yugi said in class up. You can google it, just be forewarned for the pictures if you do. This chapter was probably worse for me to write than for you to read.<br>Anyhow, I just hope you realize that this message that Yugi tried to bring forth towards the students I tried to bring to you. The test happened too, something that's good to know. The simple knowledge of it could make a difference when you're put in the same situation as the university students.  
>Just a note, child soldiers operate that way too. It's terrible.<p>

So, I know that you're probably all down right now, I know I am. It was a nice way to spend new years day, learning exactly how the Concentration and Extermination camps worked with a dead girls diary by my side. Yet I do pray you'll review to brighten my day and give me your views on whatever.


	13. The Hog's Head

I always reply to the people that review, no matter how short and pathetic these reviews are. It just happens that I forget one or two people. I thank the people who I forgot and next time I forget you feel free to haunt me with it and I will reply.

I must thank those who were skeptical towards my previous chapter. Their thorough explanation on why they thought it was exaggerated helped me put this down so I would be able to convey my reasons to why I actually did exaggerate it. I knew I did when I wrote it. Here is the explanation on why I exaggerated it.  
>Enjoy it.<p>

* * *

><p>Naturally Professor McGonagall confronted him before dinner. Professor Flitwick was nowhere to be seen, which meant most likely that Professor Flitwick would leave it to Professor Snape to confront him. Yugi wasn't sure he liked that.<p>

"I just taught a class in which nearly every Gryffindor was in shock after coming from your class, could you inform me on what you did to them?" she asked, her tone very unfriendly.

"I taught them history", Yugi said calmly. "There was nothing more to it but the truth."

"What in Merlin's name did you teach them?" she said, gradually becoming more angry.

Yugi wasn't affected by her anger at all, but just kept looking her straight in the eyes. He looked calm to a level that annoyed Minerva McGonagall to her wits end. "I just taught them something that happened not all too long ago. Something that must be prevented from ever happening again. People often don't like to have that knowledge and some react worse than others. It was necessary though."

"Lavender Brown is in the hospital wing, Ronald Weasley was shocked to the verge of insanity, luckily Hermione Granger could calm him down, although she wasn't doing all to good herself. Seamus Finnigan looked as if he could have killed someone and Longbottom was..." McGonagall had to look for the right word. "... empty, there is no other word for it, so was Potter! The only one a little gathered was Dean Thomas!" she yelled angrily, catching the attention of the other teachers. They frowned as they saw the stern-faced teacher unleash her fury on the short Japanese.

Yugi frowned. "That's very exaggerated. Certainly people take it bad, but they seldom get into shock. Are you sure they didn't fake it?"

/_They didn't Yugi_/ Atem said with a tone that worried Yugi far more than McGonagall's anger. He sounded ashamed and the blood drained from Yugi's face. /_Sorry, Yugi, I couldn't help it._/

/_What did you do?_/ Yugi asked, a bad feeling was getting a grip of his stomach. "Here", he told McGonagall without even looking at her. "Read this." He pushed a book in her hands. "If you want to know more … 1945, that should explain it."

Without even reacting to the teacher's protests he turned around and walked into the Great Hall, not entirely conscious of what he just had said and given to Professor McGonagall.

Atem explained. /_I lost control over the shadows. Once I realized where you were heading with your lesson I let the shadows flicker out towards the students but instead of simply increasing their disgust and terror like I was aiming for it started to show them what you told, not only them but me too, that's why I wasn't able to pull them back._/

/_What exactly did they see?_/ Yugi wondered, his own terror growing stronger each moment.

/_It differed depending on the student, or well actually they all saw the same things, but from different point of views in very different situations. Parvati Patil saw the experiments of Josef Mengele, though I think it was slightly worse than seeing. I think she could hear and smell and feel everything too, I believe, no I'm sure, she actually experienced one of his test together with her sister. She saw everything else too, life in a concentration camp and the gas chambers and such, yet I don't believe it affected her equally much.  
><em>_Malfoy saw Anne Frank work and die, in his experience he was working next to her under the same conditions. He could feel her sorrow and pain, since he felt the same thing himself, he also saw a lot of different things, just as bad.  
><em>_Ron Weasley actually experienced preparing and burning Hermione Granger as if it was a real life experience, while Hermione Granger probably lived the gassing itself.  
><em>_I don't know what everyone saw but they all saw it. Me too, I experienced myself watching without being able to do anything. It was a terrible feeling. I mean, I was standing next to Anne too and I also saw Mengele's experiments. Yet those things just can't live up to how I felt when I saw all these people die without being able to stop it._/_  
><em>

/_You're in shock_/ Yugi realized, and vaguely noticed that he nearly was so himself.

/_They don't consciously know that they lived it, but they are equally affected by what you told as if they actually had spend a couple of years in the Concentration or Extermination camps. I can't believe I did this to them, I exposed them to life in these camps! I feel so guilty! I just was afraid that the some of them would sympathize with the SS and the Gestapo_/

/_Please, Atem, calm down_/ Yugi begged, feeling tears gathering in his eyes. He stood up, trying not to call upon to much attention as he left the Great Hall.

He hurried through the hallways and when he ran into Peeves the ghost hurried off quickly, he was afraid of the ancient spirit in the puzzle and did what he could to prevent running into him. When Yugi reached his room he just lied down on his bed, breathing heavily. He didn't know what to do about the obviously shocked spirit and was glad that he hadn't been affected by the Shadows. He'd ask Atem why as soon as he'd gathered himself.

* * *

><p>Yugi was in Hogsmeade way before the first teachers and students arrived that weekend. It was a bright day, but windy so he didn't stick out with his hood on, more people were taking cover from the wind by using their hoods. Yugi kept his face hidden carefully. He was the kind of person that people tended to remember and he really didn't want to be noticed by anyone, it would severely ruin the shaky reputation he already had. He would have liked to look around in the village more thoroughly but he didn't dare enter a shop.<p>

The day before he had informed Rebecca about the meeting and told madam Hooch that he'd be staying at Hogwarts since he felt the beginning of a cold he'd rather avoid. Would he be seen sneaking around Hogsmeade after telling everyone he was ill wouldn't be very great.

He found the Hog's Head faster than he had expected. The pub was dirty and smelled terribly. The stone floor seemed to be made out of earth due to filth that was gathered there. Yugi didn't notice the windows directly, since they were covered with grime to the extend that it kept sunlight from entering the small room. Stubs of candles lit the place and when Yugi opened the door the wind extinguished half of them at once. Every person in the bar looked up at the small posture in the door opening but decided he was neither a threat or any of their business and returned to whatever they were doing. He didn't order anything to drink but sat down in a corner booth and put his boots on the table. He didn't bother putting fire on his candle, but allowed himself be shrouded in darkness, that way it would be easier to observe the room.

Two men with heavy accents that Yugi couldn't place were talking to each other, both wearing hoods like Yugi himself. A man looking much like a mummy was sitting at the bar, his head covered with bandages, turned gray with dirt and age.  
>Soon after Yugi arrived a witch with a black veil entered the room and sat down close to the fireplace.<p>

Yugi wished he had come later, here he had nothing to do but think. The pharaoh was still in shock from his experience in the camps and though Yugi tried to convince him it wasn't real it didn't help. The two of them knew it had been very real to very many people and words couldn't change the experience Atem had gotten. In little over an hour Atem had experienced nearly five years of torture, death, famine, illness and even inhumane experiments. That he could only barely remember it consciously didn't change a thing, the effects were the same as for the people who had lived it fifty years ago. Atem's entire being had been thoroughly shaken. Yugi was afraid of what would happen to his best friend. He had heard enough stories about people who never recovered from what had happened.

Atem had assured Yugi that he'd be fine and Yugi knew that the ancient spirit was most likely right. If Atem couldn't deal no one could, and that was the exact thought that haunted the pharaoh. He was worried sick about the students he had put through the same thing. It was guilt which ruled in his mind, guilt and shame.

Yugi was rather uncertain on where things would be heading from now on. The students hadn't been equally conscious of what had happened to them as Atem but Parvati Patil, Tracey Davis and Lavender Brown hadn't attended any more classes that day, they had been far too shocked for it. They were simply completely traumatized.

Every single teacher had now turned to avoiding Yugi, the only exception being madam Hooch, although even she had grown more distant. They glared and whispered but Yugi didn't care, he had problems enough without worrying about the teachers. Dumbledore hadn't confronted him either, Yugi wondered about him. What was the headmaster playing at? Did he approve of the method Atem had used by mistake?

It was that moment that Ron, Harry and Hermione entered the pub. "I don't know about this, Hermione", Harry whispered and looked around at each individual in the pub. "Has it occurred to you that Umbridge could be under that?" He was looking at the veiled witch. Yugi was glad that Harry hadn't looked at him more closely.

Hermione didn't seem to worry though. "Umbridge is shorter than that woman and anyway, even if Umbridge does come in here there's nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, because I've double- and triple-checked the school rules. Were not out-of-bounds; I specifically asked Professor Flitwick whether students are allowed to come in the Hog's Head, and he said yes, but he advised me strongly to bring our own glasses."

Yugi sniggered silently, he was suddenly very glad that he hadn't ordered anything.

The three students ordered a butterbeer each and Ron wondered, seemingly casually: "You know what? We could order anything we liked in here, I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn't care. I've always wanted to try firewhisky." He had a happy smile on his face at the thought.

However that smile faded quickly as Hermione snarled: "You are a prefect!"

/_They act pretty normal_/ Atem said and suddenly sat next to Yugi, invisible to anyone else.

/_They do_/ Yugi replied carefully. He didn't really know what to say.

/_It's as if it didn't happen at all, but they must feel it mustn't they?_/ Atem wondered. /_I mean, I know how it feels and we saw their reactions._/

/_Perhaps they are strong, Atem. Strong enough to learn from it rather than to break down underneath its weight. And they don't know that they could just as well have spend several years in a camp and act the way they are actin_g _currently_/

/_Let's hope so_/ Atem sighed and focused his gaze on the door as it opened and a stream of students entered.

First came Neville with Dean and to Yugi's surprise Lavender. He hadn't expected her to come since she clearly had been heavily affected by what the Shadows had showed her. They were followed by Parvati and Padma Patil and this time Yugi could see the clear affect that the shadows had left. Parvati was looking around like a deer in despair, clutching her sisters hand as if it was the only thing that kept her alive. Her sister seemed to be confused but had an arm around Parvati's waist in means of comfort and so they walked in. Cho Chang followed together with a girl named Marietta. Yugi had taught the fifth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs the very same class the previous day and the reactions there had more been confusion and anger than the zombie-like state the Gryffindors and Slytherins had gotten into. Marietta hadn't seemed to care the least, and so did several others of the Ravenclaw girls. Yugi doubted that they had realized that people actually had suffered what he had told them. Luna Lovegood came in after that, on her own and for a moment Yugi thought she had taken a wrong turn. Many more students came, far more than Yugi had expected. Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Collin and Dennis Creevey, Ernie Macmillan, Justin FinchFletchley, Hannah Abott and then Rebecca came in together with a boy in her class that Yugi knew was Peter Lepard. More people entered and Yugi could see how Harry slowly turned pale. Eventually the stream ended with Fred and George Weasley, together with Lee Jordan.

"A couple of people?" Harry said hoarsely. "A couple of people?"

Yugi didn't follow the little exchange between Hermione and Harry. He was looking for Tracey Davis. It'd be understandable if she didn't show, yet he had hoped she would.

Fred ordered the total amount of twenty-five butterbeers, the barman didn't seem very pleased, but he put twenty-five butterbeers on the counter as Fred asked for some money from all the students so he'd be able to pay.

The students sat down and Yugi had his focus with them, though he kept throwing glances at the door. Soon the chatter died out and everyone was looking at Harry. Yugi pitied the green-eyed boy, it couldn't be easy for him to have so much attention upon him after the traumatizing events Yugi had put him through.

/_That wasn't you, that was me_/ Atem remarked dryly.

Yugi didn't comment but threw the door another look before turning his attention on the group of students.

"Er", Hermione said. "Hi. Well … erm … well, you know why you are here. Erm … Harry here had the idea." Harry glared at her, making Yugi smile involuntary.  
>"I mean, I had the idea that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts – and I mean really study it, not the rubbish Umbridge is doing, because no one..."<p>

The door opened and Yugi looked up simultaneously as every student in the room. In the doorway stood Tracey Davis. It was obviously that she had tried to sneak in silently without calling upon too much attention, but the door made way too much noise and every eye in the bar was upon her.

Whispers erupted among the students, many stood up directly and drew their wands. Yugi frowned, but didn't interfere. Rebecca, who knew about Tracey gripped Peter's arm and pulled him back on his chair. "Put away that thing", she snapped.

"But..."

"Now", she snarled and Peter obeyed. Yugi laughed silently. He was very grateful for Rebecca's help, he realized that his strength would always lay in his friends.

Luna Lovegood did much the same on Marietta and Cho who snarled at her in protest and called her 'Loony' In response they received a light blow each from Rebecca who gave Luna a friendly smile.

Yugi noticed that not one of the students that had been in his class the previous Thursday had a strong reactions. They just looked at Tracey with a frown on their face. Padma Patil was also pulled down, she by her twin sister. "It's okay, Tracey was with us. She fought too." These words made everyone look at Parvati, but when every fifth year Gryffindor nodded the rest simply settled for being very confused.

/_What did Parvati mean by that, Atem?_/ Yugi wondered.

/_I suppose that their time in the camps together showed everyone's true nature. Parvati seems to be very aware of what happened deep in her unconscious mind. That's not good, neither for her nor for us._/

/_You mean that Tracey proved to be trustworthy in what happened to them in the camps?_/ Yugi wondered confused. He found it hard to put what had happened into words. They hadn't really been in camps, but as good as, the fact that they couldn't remember it made everything more complicated. Especially since they had all the problems a survivor woul-d have had. /_I thought they experienced the things individual?_/ Yugi said.

/_No, they, we, were in it together. As Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley were being shoved of the train and selected as a Sonderkommando, Neville was being taken away by SS soldiers since he was trying to warn everyone else about what was to come and shot, while Hermione was brought to the __gaschambers. With Hermione walked Dean who held the hands of two little children that were __crying for their mother. Lavender had died during the travel in the train and Parvati didn't want to get off since she wouldn't leave Lavender. This happened when you were reading the notes of the Swedish diplomate and after. We were always close to each other, yet doing different things. It was, well, like the real thing. Same when you set the example, and when you mentioned Anne Frank and Josef Mengele._/

Yugi's hands had started shaking. /_Did any join the SS?_/ he wondered, entirely horrified by what Atem had just told him.

/_Yes, in the beginning, but that soon changed. Gregory Goyle, Theodore Nott and Vincent Crabbe were with the SS in the beginning, but soon they were prisoners too, what they saw changed their sympathy to disgust. Draco became a prisoner sooner though. He turned into a prisoner as soon as he saw the misery that he couldn't have imagined, he lost his sympathy in little less than a minute after the visions started. Gregory and Vincent did as they saw people crying over their dead beloved ones_/ Atem said, ignorant over how horrified Yugi was.

/_Did Lavender know that she was dying?/_ Yugi said, praying that the answer was no.

_/Yugi, it was real. Lavender could feel the desperate need for water and food. She could feel the burning in her throat and stomach, she could feel the pain when people stepped on her. She could feel the fear for dying. I'm sure that nearly each and every student experienced how it is to die._/

Yugi couldn't answer, he was slightly sick.

/_Tracey comforted children too, she shared the food that she managed to get with those in more need of it. She took care of the ill ones when possible and stood up to the SS openly, together with Dean when they abused an eight year old. Parvati was there when it happened, and so was the rest of the class. She and Dean both got shot, but clearly Parvati remembers it and deep down so do the rest._/

Yugi felt tears making a path down his cheeks and suddenly understood why Atem felt so incredibly guilty.

Tracey raised her hands to show that she meant no harm and was defenseless. "The reason I'm here is the same as the rest of you. I also want to learn how to fight." She said it in a whisper, Yugi could barely hear her.

"Yeah, right", Lee Jordan said. "You think we'd fall for that."

/_Yugi, aren't you going to interfere?_/ Atem wondered.

Yugi shook his head lightly. /_No, with my reputation I'd make things worse than they already are._/

"I wasn't bluffing, I'm serious!" she said hurt, though she held her head high. Clearly she had prepared herself for this.

A Ravenclaw named Terry Boot walked towards Tracey and bypassed her. He opened the door behind her and looked outside. He lifted his wand and shouted '_Homenom Revelio_!' at the area outside the Hog's Head. "She's alone", he stated and walked back towards the rest of the group.

"Foolish Slytherin, coming alone!" Marietta shouted, receiving an additional and much harder blow on the back of her head from Rebecca.

"Your Tracey Davis, right?" she wondered and gave the girl a wink to make sure that the Slytherin knew that Yugi hadn't left her to her fate and that she had an alley in the group opposite her.

"Yeah, I am", Tracey said and blushed.

"Hay, Trace", Dean said cheerfully and stood up. "How come you knew that we'd gather here?" He walked towards her and draped casually an arm around the girl who immediately turned red.

"I … I heard Hawkins tell Lepard, I thought … I thought it sounded like a good idea. I know it's weird that a Slytherin shows up but I thought I should anyway. You know, to prove … to prove that not all Slytherins carry the same values. That some of us would side with Hogwarts if, no when, war breaks loose", she said. She seemed to have trouble finding her words but finally decided that she better didn't try to talk to a group and focused on one individual. Her gaze caught Harry's and she held it. "I believe you Harry, I believe that He-Who-Must … Oh, screw it. I believe that Voldemort is back and I want to fight him." Each and every living being, and a dead one too, in the Hog's Head was staring at Tracey. They were simply to surprised to react to the name they all feared so much.

"Wow", Ron said and was the one to break the tension, "you really know how to use your words."

This comment was met with spread laughter from the group of students.

"Would you be denied the right to join us into opposing Umbridge and the Ministry by learning how to fight and defend ourselves against V … Voldemort because of the house you belong to? I didn't think so. The Sorting Hat warned us against that kind of idiocy so I think you're welcome to join us like everyone else here. Dean certainly doesn't seem to mind. Any objections?" Hermione wondered. Dean blushed and threw Hermione a furious gaze, Hermione just smiled at him innocently.

When no one did object Tracey gave a weak smile and Dean beamed at her. "Well Hermione, carry on", he said with a broad smile, not able to maintain his fury.

"Well, I thought we should take matters into our own hands..."

/_Tracey did it very well_/ Yugi said, /_I am proud of her. Dean and Terry made it a lot easier though and so did the knowledge they already had about Tracey. It's working in her advantage right now. Since we can't change the fact that it happened lets just hope that they take what they have learned from each other in consideration every time something like this happens_/

/_Stop trying to make me feel better_/ Atem said grumpy and retrieved to the very outskirts of his mind.

Yugi didn't say anything on that, mostly due to the fact that Atem most likely wouldn't be able to hear him even if he did. He turned his attention back to the students.

"What makes me say that You-Know-Who is back?" Harry wondered, his eyes firmly on a blonde Hufflepuff boy that Yugi knew to be Zacharias Smith. Harry didn't look very happy and Yugi was sure that he'd soon lose his temper. "I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you don't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone."

Tracey bravely opened her mouth to say something but Zacharias beat her to the point, he wasn't done yet and seemed to be oblivious of Harry's rising temper. "All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory was killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought his body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know..."

"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you! I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you are here for, you might as well clear out." He threw Hermione an angry gaze and Yugi felt sorry for her, she seemed to be under more fire than she deserved.

When everyone stayed put Hermione spoke up again. "So", she said, "like I was saying … if you want to learn some defense, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we are going to meet, and how we are going to..."

"Is it true that you can produce a Patronus?" a Hufflepuff girl with a long plait called Susan Bones wondered.

This interested the group immensely, murmurs of interest went through it.

"Yeah", Harry said with a frown.

"A corporeal Patronus?" she wondered.

Yugi had long since lost track of the conversation. He had no idea who Cedric Diggory was but from what he had gathered he understood that Harry hadn't had an easy term the previous year. Neither did Yugi know what a Patronus was, but personally he found Cedric Diggory more interesting.

"Er", Harry said, "you don't know madam Bones, do you?" he wondered.

The girl smiled. "She's my auntie", she said, "I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So … is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?"

/_Atem!_/ Yugi called out, slightly annoyed, /_What's a hearing?_/

Atem explained quickly and Yugi shook his head. /_Doesn't he ever stay out of trouble?_/

"Yes", Harry said, answering the Hufflepuff girl.

"Blimely, Harry!" Lee said, looking impressed and making Yugi laugh silently at the word, "I never knew that!"

"Mum told us not to spread it around", one of the Weasley twins said grinning, Yugi couldn't keep them apart. "She said you got enough attention as it was."

"She's not wrong", the dark-haired boy mumbled.

From that point on the conversation shifted to Harry's advantage. At a certain point he decided to put an end to it. "Look", he said and everyone fell silent. "I … I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but … I had a lot of help with all that stuff..."

"Not with the dragon! That was a seriously cool bit of flying!"

"Yeah, well..."

"And no one helped you get rid of those dementors this summer."

Protests came from various directions but Harry opposed them quickly. "No, no, okay, I know I did bits of it without help, but the point I am trying to make is..."

"Are you trying to weasel out of showing any of this stuff?" Zacharias Smith said slightly scornful.

Ron Weasley reacted at once, probably on the word weasel than anything else. "Here's an idea, why don't you shut your mouth?" Yugi prayed that Ron wouldn't hit the Hufflepuff, although it looked like he wanted to.

"Well, we've all turned up to learn from him, and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it", Zacharias pressed on, unaffected by Ron's threat.

"That's not what he said!" one of the Weasley twins said affronted.

Yugi continued to listen, but not much more of importance was said, they argued a little more about insignificant things and started to brainstorm around when and where. They left after each individual put their name on a list, one that looked very innocent, but Yugi doubted it was. Hermione warned them all once not to shout around what they were doing and with that they all left.

"Well, I think that went quite well", Hermione said as she, Ron and Harry left the Hog's Head. With that the silence returned to the pub.

The bartender shook his head and muttered unfriendly to himself: "If these brats are going to make a habit of showing up here every time they get outside that damned school of them I am closing the place!"

* * *

><p>I really hope that I was able to mediate what actually happened during the previous chapter. I found it very hard to put it down so that I was satisfied.<p>

Tuesday school starts again, so my updates will probably becoming less often. All depends on how much my head is willing to cooperate with my fingers. I was thinking about making (nearly) daily small messages on my profile so you can all see about how far I've gotten and be able to figure out around when I'll be updating. Should I or is it a bad idea?

Alright, down below is a shiny blue button, push it! Especially you who were skeptical to the previous chapter, it would be fun to see whether your opinions have changed. It's blue and bright, no it's not a bruise, though there is a certain risk of those if you don't push the bright and blue thing down below.


	14. Inhabitants of the Black Lake

Two days ago I learned that my dad was unreliable after pulling my sled that was tied to a snow scooter to the frozen lake, but there was water on the ice. He knew that, yet he just drove on.  
>Making a long story short: sleds don't like water, they tip. Result: Me, face first in the water, covered by snow.<br>Now, can any of you guess what happens to water when it is below zero degrees outside? It freezes! I was a wandering block of ice. Now you all should know, being under-cooled is not pleasant but you don't really notice it, it is defrosting that is hell. It is torture!  
>And actually the worst of all is that dad didn't understood why I was angry with him.<p>

* * *

><p>Rebecca wasn't too surprised to learn that Yugi had been in the Hog's Head. The two of them had coffee together in Yugi's room Sunday afternoon. They hadn't small talked like they usually did but had directly moved on to more serious conversations.<p>

"So, the meeting in the Hog's Head went pretty well", Yugi said with a smile. "When are you all going to meet."

"How did you know?" Rebecca had asked and dipped her gingerbread in her coffee, something she had always enjoyed.

"I was there, I was present at the entire meeting. I have to thank you for helping Tracey", Yugi said, still with a smile that made Rebecca understand that Yugi was quite satisfied with what he had done, though for some reason it didn't seem entirely genuine.

"No problem, it was a good idea", Rebecca said dismissing, "Are you alright."

"I'm fine", Yugi said automatically but stopped dead when he saw Rebecca's expression. "What?"

"Yugi", she said with a raised eyebrow. "Everyone else might fall for that, but I know you too well to be tricked. What's wrong?"

Rebecca meant well, Atem knew that and so did Yugi. But Yugi was tired, stressed and sad; he lost his temper. "What do you know?" he burst out unexpectedly. "It's been four years since you and I saw each other before everything went to hell! Yet even before that, what did you know anyway?"

Atem couldn't believe his ears. He had known that Yugi's previously nonexistent temper had developed during the years while he was hunting a faceless killer, but for Yugi to take it out on Rebecca … It was not something that Atem could comprehend. But people changed, didn't they? Then he realized that the reason Yugi was so on edge was him. His lighter was worried, worried sick about _him_. The once nameless pharaoh who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to events from the second world war. To Atem that sounded more like a bad joke than an awful reality. He didn't notice his PTSD, but perhaps that was the reason that Yugi was so worried.

Rebecca and Yugi were both oblivious to the spirits pondering and Yugi, who with a surge of shame realized what he had just said, was about to apologize. It was just that Rebecca wasn't the easiest person to apologize to. She was simply to quick for that. "What I knew?" she wondered quietly, a dangerous tone colored her voice. It was a tone Atem had experienced before, but Yugi was taken aback by it. "I accused your grandfather of a horrible crime the first time I met you! I was disrespectful towards my opponent and my cards! The only thing you do is forfeit the duel!" Rebecca's voice was steadily getting more angry and louder. "You forfeit! Did you actually think I'd get that? Of course I didn't! We're not all as kindhearted as you once were, and I believe you still are! I didn't get that you wanted to teach me that there were more important things than winning! I was a complete stranger at the time, yet you did! From that moment I knew who you were!" It was incredible that Rebecca could carry on he preach without having to breathe more than once every four sentences, but she did. "You were the kindest, honest, trustworthy, patient and probably most foolish person I had ever met! Did you think my opinion of you changed during Dartz time? No, it didn't! If anything you confirmed it, you are the most foolish and damn saint like person I've ever met! You are bothered by everything that is in the least unfair and it takes an hour for someone to learn how to recognize when something is wrong with you or that freaky spirit you share a body with! The only reason people here don't learn to recognize it is because they don't see you the way I did, the way _we_ did!"

It was hard to tell who was more surprised, Yugi or Atem. Atem wasn't very pleased over being called a freaky spirit, though he assumed that Rebecca meant nothing with it. Yugi was shocked overall by what Rebecca had just thrown in his face and was completely stunned.

"Who's we?" Yugi asked eventually.

"Do I have to name them?" Rebecca wondered. "There were many people who saw you the way I do, who could read you as good as I can and way better. So what's wrong?"

"I'm just worried. Something bad happened, something that shouldn't have happened and I don't know what to do about it", he confessed, deciding that there was no point in continuing the fight.

That didn't tell Rebecca anything at all, but instead of commenting that she decided to guess. "Has it something to do with why the teachers are avoiding you? And perhaps with what you did to Umbridge?"

"Yes and no", Yugi said. "Certainly the teachers were wary when they heard about Umbridge, but it isn't the reason that they avoid me. Did you hear about what happened last Thursday?"

Rebecca had to think for a while. "I'm not sure. Marietta was telling some younger Ravenclaws how weird the Slytherins had been acting the final class that day. Parvati had been escorted to the class by Dean, she had panicked as soon as she saw Padma and kept asking her if she was alright. Many of the Slytherins had been in shock. Tracey Davis didn't attend any class the day after and Daphne Greengrass, Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott were send away by Professor Flitwick since they were in no condition to learn anything. That's just what I heard though, do you know anything about it?"

Yugi nodded. "I do. They are all suffering from PTSD."

That confused Rebecca. "But how? What happened?"

/_Let me, Yugi. It was my fault, so I should explain_/ Atem said quietly.

/_But …_/

/_I''m fine Yugi, I can do this_/ the ancient spirit interrupted.

Yugi didn't protest further but retrieved to his soul room, leaving Atem to take control.

"Atem?" Rebecca wondered with a frown.

"It was my fault. I was afraid that some students would sympathize with the Nazi. They did, in the beginning, I changed that … but not completely as intended though. Yugi was teaching them about the Concentration and Extermination camps and I wanted them to understand the true horrors of what happened. I reached out with the shadows, I aimed for them to feel the same hopelessness as the actual prisoners had. Only for a second so they understood, nothing more. I wasn't prepared for the illusions the shadows started to show us, me and the class. I was so taken aback by the horror, fear and death which I saw that I was caught up in the shadows to such an extend that I couldn't release myself from them and take them back. The students lived what happened in the Concentration and Extermination camps. They don't remember it, but do at the same time, it's an unconscious knowledge. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was the result, nightmares, survivors guilt, fear, anger … and I can't make it undone. I devastated everything they knew and within an hour they were war survivors. They know how it feels how to die, I couldn't have put them through something worse."

Rebecca was just gaping. There was a long silence before she finally spoke. "Yugi too?"

Atem shook his head. "No, I avoided Yugi so he wasn't affected. Only the students and me, the students since I was aiming for them, me because I was controlling the shadows."

"So that's what Parvati meant yesterday", Rebecca sighed, still not having entirely realized what Atem had just told her. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know. I feel more powerless than ever, I feel like I should have done something, but I couldn't. I feel … guilty and ashamed. I'm worried about the students, I don't know what is happening to them. Will they ever recover, or will they forever be haunted by nightmares and sudden panic attacks? I've lost myself, Rebecca, again, and I don't know if I'll be able to become me again this time too."

/_I'll help you, just like last time_/ Yugi told the Pharaoh.

/_Thank you_/ was all the Pharaoh could say. Atem wouldn't tell Yugi that he needed just as much help as the spirit did himself. Yugi had become a lot more like himself since their arrival at Hogwarts, a lot due to Rebecca, but Yugi was still far from the light that he once was and Atem knew that they had now reached a stalemate. Someone from outside had to help one of the two now to get them out of their spiral, a spiral that just a week ago had been going upwards, but now steadily downwards and Atem was quiet sure that Rebecca wouldn't be able to turn it around.

Rebecca knew that too, she was thinking about what Anzu had told her while Atem had been in Death Valley. The strength of the odd group of persons she had gotten to know lied in their friendship, they had all been a vital part. You could have seen them as rings.

The inner ring were Honda, Jonouchi, Anzu, Yugi and the Pharaoh. The five closest friends anyone could think of. The second ring would consist out of Ryou, Otogi, Mai, Mokuba and Kaiba. She was part of the third ring together with Marik, Ishizu, Rishid and her grandfather. It wasn't surprising that Atem and Yugi were doing poorly, many of the people they had cared about most were gone.

"It just occurred to me that I have something to do", she said and jumped up. She threw the astonished spirit that was currently controlling her friend's body a look and sighed. "I understand why you did it and I'm not mad, if anything I'm worried. This will make things more complicated than they already were, but I assume you know that. As I said I really do have something to attend to." She sighed again and looked at him thoughtful a while, then she shook her head a little. "Take care, both of you."

She walked towards the door and let herself out, Atem was still sitting on the chair. "PTSD, what a joke. Everything is just a stupid joke." He put his head on the table and closed his eyes, the images that met him were the proof of that it was everything but a joke, it was very real.

Rebecca could handle these kind of things well, she wasn't as shocked as Yugi had been. While walking towards the west tower in which the Ravenclaw common room was located she was going over several possibilities and solutions. She was after all a true Ravenclaw. The common room was filled with silent students, more than half of them were fifth years doing their homework. Rebecca pitied the fifth years and their amount of homework and wasn't looking forward to the next year. She had hard enough to catch up with her studies as it was. She was still busy on first year material in most classes though the teachers did a great effort to help her catch up. Professor Flitwick had assured her that she would be able to delay her OWLs. at least two more years if she wanted since she was a so called 'late student'.

She shook her head. She was more distracted than usual but that was mostly due to all the information she had received at once. For some reason she was starting to miss her computer, it had been an unwavering source of logic that she always could rely on. It wasn't until she was disturbing the silence by searching the bookcases for blank parchment that she realized that it was a sad thought and a slightly disturbing one. What kind of person fled to her computer when her world was changing faster than she could keep up with? Finally she found a piece of parchment that would fulfill its purpose and to many of the other Ravenclaws relief she left the common room.

The weather outside was rainy, but for once Rebecca chose to ignore the rain and used the opportunity to go to the lake. The lake was an interesting place. The creatures in it seemed to have taken some kind of liking to her, especially the giant squid that lived in it. Every time she was by the lake alone a giant tentacle would reach out to her. The first time it had freaked her out immensely but when she asked Peter about it he had assured her that the squid in the lake was the most harmless creature that inhabited the black lake and that he was very friendly. Rebecca hadn't asked what else inhabited the lake.

This time the squid came faster than usual, a dark shadow formed beneath the surface and a huge red tentacle came from the deep and touched her surprisingly lightly on her cheek. She smiled and tickled it softly, some bubbles appeared on the surface of the inky water and Rebecca knew that it was a sign of the squids approval.

"I'm going to write a letter", she told the black surface, as usual unsure whether the squid could hear or understand her. "A friend of mine needs help from someone who knows him. I'd help him, but I'm simply not close enough to him. I know someone who is though, that person doesn't know about this world, but … Yugi and the Pharaoh need help, don't they? I don't like to see the two of them suffer that much, they have suffered enough and yet it's constantly getting worse! There is only one person that can change that, someone who has fought at their side before."

Rebecca dipped her quill in the ink she had taken with her and started to curse the rain which made writing a lot harder. '_Ryou_' she started and suddenly the parchment was ripped from her hands by a tentacle that wasn't red but nearly brown. Rebecca gave a short scream in surprise. "Hey!"

Then a being Rebecca recognized crossed the surface and all Rebecca could do was stare. This wasn't good, not good at all. A brown squid with large yellow eyes was glaring at her in a way that wasn't nearly as friendly as the way the giant squid treated the students. Above his eyes he had eyebrows that literally consisted out of fire, a large fire that met between the creatures eyes and went upwards over his head in a way that made it look like a hairdo, a large, hot, orange hairdo. His tentacles were flaming on certain places, every now and then a flame on a tentacle would extinguish and a different one would awake somewhere else. The brown skin wasn't smooth but wrinkled, making the creature look very old. Rebecca was certain that Pegasus had named this creature Fire Kraken. A common monster, not weak and not strong. The kind that you used for sacrifices, since it wasn't strong enough to last in battle. You had a thousand of these monsters in the game, but for some reason it looked a lot more powerful now it was swimming before her.  
>He was at least four times taller than her, at least.<p>

"_Don't write_", the kraken commanded. "_I won't allow it!_"

Rebecca was still too much herself not to protest despite the size of the creature in front of her. "But why? Yugi and the Pharaoh need help!"

"_There is no point in asking the tomb-robber for help_", the ancient being of fire in front of her said.

That comment made Rebecca flare up with anger. "Tomb-robber? Tomb-robber! How dare you?" Her voice shifted two octaves but she didn't care. "Ryou should never be compared to that pathetic excuse of a thief!"

"_Have you ever met the tomb-robber?_" the kraken went on, ignoring her anger.

"No", Rebecca said sourly. "But I have met Ryou."

"_If you don't know the tomb-robber than how do you know that the two shouldn't be compared? The tomb-robber might have been the petty servant of a demon that took control over his body, memory and will but do you know what he was like before?_" The kraken talked very slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. Rebecca was slightly worried about what would happen if anyone would see the giant being, everyone would realize that it wasn't the giant squid, mostly since the giant squid wasn't able to defy the laws of physics by burning underwater.

"No", Rebecca said more sourly.

"_Bakura was a child like any other until the Pharaoh had his village slaughtered. Little Bakura grew up overnight, how shocked he was to see his family and friends being sacrificed alive to form such a dark power. Akhnaden defied the eons old demon Zorc but that demon soon came in contact with the little albino boy, filling the boy's heart with so much anger and hatred that he was able to create a Ka that was only matched by the Egyptian Gods. Little Bakura had little to say in the matter, he wanted revenge and Zorc could easily promise him that. Soon Bakura had a contract with the devil and he was beyond all rescue. When Zorc needed a sacrifice he took Bakura, he didn't care much. The Millennium Items cause nothing but destruction, it destroyed the life of a little boy __but instead of destroying them the greedy Pharaoh kept them to himself and decided to live forever._" The kraken turned away, as if he had nothing left to say, but Rebecca disagreed on that.

She picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could, hitting the shadow creature full in the head. It turned around merely annoyed by a hit that could have killed a person.

"Bastard!" Rebecca screamed on the top her lungs and only vaguely noticed that it started to rain harder. "The Pharaoh sacrificed his life to end the suffering that came with the shadows! He did intend to destroy them, for crying out loud. He really did! Someone else took away that possibility from him! That person killed his friends and closed the door to the afterlife, stopping the ritual that would have destroyed the Millennium Items!" She took a deep breath. "Since when are the shadow creatures able to act without being called upon anyway! You are prisoners in stone! The only ones able to do so are the creatures that dwell in the Dominion of the Beast! Don't talk ill about someone you don't know! I know I made a mistake by doing so myself, I admit that, but I am human and humans make mistakes!"

"_You live up to your rumor. It is said that it's hard to argue with you, you're a fool and a fool will drag you down to her level and beat you with experience. Let's both keep quiet about people we don't really know._"

Rebecca was just gaping at the overly obvious insult and was considering jinxing the kraken but decided that it wouldn't be smart.

"_As for me acting without being commanded to do anything. Every Ka that was ever trapped in the shadows is able to act of their own free will whenever they want. It only takes a lot of energy, so we choose not to, when a wielder commands us to do something we are aided by raw shadows, which give us enough energy to do as we were told and usually we are stopped by the wielder if we try to exit the shadows, a couple of days ago his grip faltered though and I left.  
>Not many of us talk either, since that takes even more energy. It's why we speak so slowly, you see. The creatures in the Dominion of the Beast don't have that problem, they have never been captured by the shadows.<em>"  
>The kraken sounded bitter and Rebecca raised an eyebrow.<br>"_So many of these foolish creatures are so loyal to the first person that treats them with the least of respect. It's pathetic, I don't know what they see in their masters. We are slaves, they should realize that, no human ever treats us with respect._"

Rebecca was steadily getting more annoyed but somewhere in the back of her head she could see the undeniable funny situation. A teenage girl was standing visibly annoyed in front of an enormous burning squid that was complaining about absolutely everything.

"Yugi does! He always has, I once didn't but I sure as hell do now! It was a lesson I learned rather quickly! Same for that Pharaoh! The only one here who sees you as slaves is you!" She raised her hands in an angry and annoyed gesture. "I'm starting to wonder who the fool is here!"

The kraken ignored her once again. "_I'll soon have to return to the shadows, I'm growing weak so I'll make my point._"

"Finally", Rebecca muttered under her breath and received a very unfriendly glare from the brown squid.

"_Momentarily there is no person closer to Yugi than you are, there is no point in asking this Ryou for help. Ryou doesn't know about the wizarding world and you don't have the authorization to tell __him, remember? You are the only person that Yugi and the Pharaoh can turn to in times like these, but they won't. In their eyes your still the ten year old that they have to protect although you proved already then that you have no need for protection. They won't trouble you with their problems although they should. Since you are closest to the pair of them it will be you that will teach them a very valuable lesson that will most definitely break the spiral they are in._"  
>It had taken the kraken quiet some time to say all that and Rebecca had time to think over it several times before he had even finished.<br>"_Now I'm going._"

"Wait!" Rebecca yelled. "Why are you telling me this?"

"_To prepare you_", the kraken answered and disappeared in the deep.

"Prepare me for what?" she whispered at the unusual blank surface of the black lake.

A red tentacle shot out of the lake and wrapped itself gently around her in comfort as Rebecca looked around. She finally noticed the thunderclouds that were gathering at the skyline and knew she had to be grateful, hadn't it been for them she had probably had an audience, an audience which would have asked more questions than she could have answered.

* * *

><p>Harry and Ron had left the castle to work outside with their homework rather early, when the last burst of autumn sun was still shining. When it started to drizzle they had ignored it, knowing that if they went inside they wouldn't have the energy or the desire to continue with what they were doing.<p>

They had been busy quite a while when Ron poked Harry in his side. "Look!" the red-head said, "It's the giant squid!".

Harry looked up and indeed, one of the red tentacles of the giant squid had broken the surface of the black lake and reached out to a figure that Harry vaguely could make out as Rebecca Hawkins. He just watched interested.

"Fred and George say that the squid likes it when you tickle him", Ron said. Great bubbles erupted on the surface and they could hear Rebecca talk, though they couldn't hear what she said. The squid withdrew and Rebecca started writing something.  
>She had barely started or a different tentacle shot out of the water, taking something from Rebecca.<p>

"How many of the squids tentacles burn?" Harry asked Ron as the two of them were watching wide-eyed.

"According to Fred and George; none", Ron said with a squeaky voice. It had the same tone as when Hagrid had sent them to see Aragog, Hagrid's enormous pet spider. A very unfriendly pet spider that had presented them to his children as dinner.

The two boys heard a scream from the other side of the lake, it didn't sound scared, just affronted. "Hey!"

Then a being crossed the surface and Harry didn't need Ron to know that the squid facing Rebecca wasn't the huge but friendly being that normally inhabited the lake. This squid was burning, both above and underneath the water.

"_Don't write! I won't allow it!_"

It took Harry and Ron a while to understand that the slow yet loud voice came from the burning creature.  
>What surprised them even more was that Rebecca simply stood up and answered it, not the tiniest bit of fear in her voice. "But why? Yugi and the Pharaoh need help!"<p>

Ron looked at Harry and Harry nodded. Why wasn't Hermione with them every time something like this happened?

"Why would ..." Ron started but Harry silenced him.

"Listen first, question later!"

"_There is no point in asking the tomb-robber for help_", the ancient being of fire said.

Rebecca's voice was loud enough for them to hear without effort now and the anger that filled her voice made Harry wonder whether Ron feared the squid or the Ravenclaw. "Tomb-robber? Tomb-robber! How dare you? Ryou should never be compared to that pathetic excuse of a thief!"

"_Have you ever met the tomb-robber?_" the squid went on, ignoring her anger and oblivious to his audience.

"No", Rebecca said sourly. "But I have met Ryou." Her voice had become lower and Harry and Ron both held their breath so they wouldn't miss a word.

"_If you don't know the tomb-robber then how do you know that the two shouldn't be compared? The tomb-robber might have been the petty servant of a demon that took control over his body, memory and will, but do you know what he was like before?_" The kraken talked very slowly, it sounded like he was constantly falling asleep.

Ron frowned. "Didn't Hermione say something about a tomb-robber?" Ron wondered. Harry gave Ron an annoyed glance and put a hand on his friends mouth but nodded.

Ron had talked through Rebecca's answer but Harry assumed that it had been a no for once again the booming but slow voice echoed over the lake.  
>"<em>Bakura was a child like any other until the Pharaoh had his village slaughtered. Little Bakura grew up overnight, how shocked he was to see his family and friends being sacrificed alive to form such a dark power. Akhnaden defied the eons old demon Zorc but that demon soon came in contact with the little albino boy, filling the boy's heart with so much anger and hatred that he was able to create a Ka that was only matched by the Egyptian Gods. Little Bakura had little to say in the matter, he wanted revenge and Zorc could easily promise him that. Soon Bakura had a contract with the devil and he was beyond all rescue. When Zorc needed a sacrifice he took Bakura, he didn't care much. The Millennium Items cause nothing but destruction, it destroyed the life of a little boy but instead of destroying them the greedy Pharaoh kept them to himself and decided to live forever.<em>"

Ron and Harry just stared at each other, horrified. Neither of the two knew what to think.

The flaming squid turned away from the blonde girl, but the blonde girl was full of surprises. Harry became pale as she lifted a rock and threw it with more strength than Harry could have held for possible.  
>Rebecca wasn't done with surprising the two Gryffindors though.<br>"Bastard!" Rebecca screamed on the top her lungs. "The Pharaoh sacrificed his life to end the suffering that came with the shadows! He did intend to destroy them, for crying out loud. He really did! Someone else took away that possibility from him! That person killed his friends and closed the door to the afterlife, stopping the ritual that would have destroyed the Millennium Items!" She took a deep breath. "Since when are the shadow creatures able to act without being called upon anyway! You are prisoners in stone! The only ones able to do so are the creatures that dwell in the Dominion of the Beast! Don't talk ill about someone you don't know! I know I made a mistake by doing so myself, I admit that, but I am human and humans make mistakes!"

"She … She … She", Ron stammered and had his finger lifted towards Rebecca. "He's going to kill her!"

"Ron! Shut up!" Harry said, having completely lost patience with his best friend.

"_You live up to your rumor. It is said that it's hard to argue with you, you're a fool and a fool will drag you down to her level and beat you with experience. Let's both keep quiet about people we don't really know._"

"Haven't you two heard more than you should have already?" a woman's voice asked from behind them. "Go back inside and forget what you heard."

Harry and Ron turned around quickly. Behind them stood a witch with black robes and purple hair with brown feathers in it. Her black robes had a neckline that consisted of silver and in the silver was an eye. It was definitely not a human eye, it was larger, brown and the iris was purple. It reminded Harry a bit of Moody's eye, but he soon noticed that the witch behind them was far from human. In her forehead was a third eye, a green one that closed and opened in the same way a crocodile's eye did.

"Who are you?" Harry asked on the verge of panic.

"_I'm the Witch of the Black Forest, a shadow creature loyal to Rebecca. I'm not going to allow you to interfere with what is supposed to happen. Me and my kin should have been destroyed together with the power of the shadows several years ago and now we seek a way to destroy them once again. Fire Kraken over there might not have all the facts right since he has never been called upon in a shadow game, but he is surprisingly tolerant to the outside world. We cannot have you sneak around, the fewer people know about these powers the better. If they were to fall in the wrong hands there is no guarantee that the Pharaoh could beat them once again. What the Egyptian Gods had prophesied has already happened and the shadows should have been gone. A new prophecy has been made, you heard it but do not try to understand. The wizarding world and the shadows should have stayed away from each other, these two powers combined can lead to nothing but destruction. Go inside and keep your mouth closed or the beings of shadows will have no choice but to silence you forever. The curse-breakers didn't listen to our warnings, take heed or you'll meet the same fate._"

"But why would you want to be destroyed? Don't you want to live?" Harry wondered confused.

"_I was a part of a persons soul a long time ago. Five thousand years have passed since Akhnaden accused the woman who I served of witchcraft and absorbed her Ka, absorbed me. With me all her power disappeared so they released her, but she couldn't speak ever again and she avoided human contact. It was sad but I could not help her, I was trapped in a great tablet of stone that was kept in a sanctuary. On occasion Akhnaden would call upon me and told me to do things for him, spy mostly. I didn't live anymore since I had been ripped from my home and was a prisoner of shadows. Akhnaden had little respect for me or any other of his monsters. During my tasks I saw what the __shadows were doing to Egypt, I fought in the battle against Zorc the first time. We all knew that it couldn't be won but it was okay, because all beasts new about the Egyptian Gods and what they had foreseen.  
>A long time went while I was just waiting for the return of the brave Pharaoh who had made the greatest of sacrifices, denying himself the passage to the afterlife and for that he was rewarded by Obelisk, Slifer and Ra. They gave him the chance to change the past, destroy the Millennium Items and leave for the afterlife once he would return.<br>And the Pharaoh returned and with the shadows and the awful games. Every shadow creature turned its eyes on him and waited to be summoned.  
>I was summoned by Rebecca, a little girl at the time, who was completely unable to wield the shadows. I was surprised, but then I saw that her opponent was no one less but the Pharaoh's hikari and I understood. What surprised me more was how gentle and respectful the hikari was towards the creatures he summoned even though he didn't know that we were more than simulations.<br>Rebecca wasn't as nice, she was very rude towards those she summoned and the hikari … the hikari did something that I couldn't get. He forfeit the duel so Rebecca would learn that there was a heart in the game and that we'd aid those who treated us with respect. Ever since that day Rebecca has been treating me and her other monsters with all the respect she can manage. She's a good master and I swore that I'd protect her.  
>If the shadows aren't destroyed she and many others will come in lethal danger. I rather have the shadows and thus myself obliterated than this world in pieces. I know that there are monsters that live in the Dominion that will help her if needed<em>."  
>The woman smiled.<br>"_Now I've told you a lot more than you should know. We are trying to keep people who are free from the shadows, like Ryou, out of it and prevent new people from coming in. Now you already know and that can't be changed, but I've warned you._"

With that the witch faded away in shadows that soon became thinner, almost like smoke.

The two of them sat absolutely silent. Rebecca had went inside and thunder could be heard coming closer, they were soaking wet but absolutely didn't care.

"What was that?" Ron asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"A Ka", Harry said and recalled the laws of Ka and Ba that Professor Muto had explained to them. "What's a hikari?"

"I dunno Harry, but I'm scared", Ron admitted. "I'm very scared."

"It's okay Ron", Harry said and patted his friend on his back. "I actually do believe that Professor Muto is on our side, despite what everyone else thinks. I'm more worried about what happened if Voldemort ever got his hands on the shadows, since I believe that our magic is nothing compared to the darkness this Pharaoh wields."

* * *

><p>I have no inspiration momentarily, so I'll just say: Review!<p> 


	15. Beaten, Battered and Bruised

Another ten hours of electricity breakdown. At the end of this fic I wonder how many of you will have counted the hours in which we have had a electricity breakdown.  
>It is simply pathetic.<p>

What isn't pathetic is the amount of snow that has fallen the last 48 hours. More than half a meter. Random question: how many of you live in a place in which utter chaos would come to if that happened?

Anyway, enjoy

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><p>Harry and Ron had told Hermione everything that had happened that Sunday and they did survive throughout Monday, though only barely. Monday morning Umbridge had forced another decree through, banishing all student organizations, though they could seek permission to re-form with Umbridge. What they had organized the weekend before had overnight turned into something that directly violated the rules.<p>

What Harry hadn't seen coming was that Umbridge included quidditch in those organizations, Angelina came to warn him about that during breakfast. What she said was: "Please, please don't loose your temper with Umbridge again or she might not let us play anymore!"

With that the three Gryffindors set of for History of Magic, the memory of their last class still fresh in their minds. The fifth years had scared the teachers thoroughly though they kept telling them that they were alright. Harry himself could see that they were all lying. Seamus, Dean, Ron and Neville had woken up screaming several times, so had he himself.

With a terrible foreboding feeling they all sat in their benches. Parvati and Tracey in particular seemed to have a hard time. Dean had put an arm around Tracey and held her. The doors had been open when they arrived, though the Professor was nowhere to be seen. After waiting a little over ten minutes Blaise Zabini decided to check out the whereabouts of their history teacher. He headed respectfully towards the door that led to the Professor's office, but before he even had time to knock the door spoke: '_Rishid_'

Blaise raised an eyebrow and backed some steps. "Excuse me?"

'_Rishid, if you don't show me the …_' The door went silent abruptly as a short but big sword penetrated it. Zabini backed several more steps, falling down the little step-up on which Professor Muto's desk was located.

The door opened and each and every student had expected some kind of foul creature, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sure that it would be one of the Witches beasts, here to kill them. They hadn't need to worry though, it was just Professor Muto, though the teacher looked so incredibly angry for a second that Harry preferably faced an army of Dementors than the short Japanese that moment. The indescribable anger disappeared soon, but not soon enough. Every student in the room has seen the mad fury that had shown on Professors Muto's face and a wave of whispers went through the room.

The teacher realized that and sighed as he ran a hair through his weird, triple-colored, starfish-shaped hair. "I'm sorry", he said and reached out a hand to Blaise, a hand which was ignored by the Slytherin who crawled up with all the dignity he could manage and returned to his bench. "I've told it before to stop asking, but it won't. I've lost all patience with it and though I've warned it, it refused to listen. Perhaps I've proven my point to it now and it'll shut up."

"Professor, what did he mean?" Lavender wondered. "He spoke a name."

"Rishid, I heard it. I'll tell you if you want", he said and for some reason Harry knew that Professor Muto would tell the truth if Lavender pressed on.

"Was he a friend of yours?" Lavender wondered.

"He could have been, I hadn't the time to get to know him well enough to call him friend. He was a good man though, so much I know, brave and loyal. He was the kind of guy that would walk through fire to protect his family. He died, I wish I could have gotten to know him better, but lives disappear quicker than anyone can hold for possible", Professor Muto said and a new wave of whispers went through the class.

"What happened to him?" Lavender asked.

"A tomb collapsed, he and his entire family died. He had two younger sibling which I both knew better. Those two I could call friends", Yugi said, more honest than Harry had ever held for possible. "For a long time I refused to talk about it, you see, those three weren't the only ones who died. I was in there too, nearly everyone I cared about died that day. It's been quite a while since but those scars stay forever, all of you, appreciate what you have, it might not last much longer."

Hermione whispered in Harry's ear. "He told the truth, why would he do that?"

"I don't know Hermione", Harry whispered back. "I believe that Professor Muto is on our side, or at least opposite Voldemort's. I don't know what to think about this mystical Pharaoh though, sometimes he seems to be the enemy, at other times he seems to be the one we should turn to for help."

"Professor Muto seems to be convinced of this Pharaoh's good intentions, but perhaps he was deceived?" Ron said, jumping in on their conversation. "We haven't actually ever met the guy."

"Let's just wait and see, there are many unidentified parts in this mystery. The Shadow creatures like the one that approached you yesterday, Rebecca and the Pharaoh, as for the so called King of Games nothing is sure", Hermione mused. "If we could only figure out who the Pharaoh was."

"You believed Professor Muto when he said that it wasn't him?" Ron wondered.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I do. Actually, I think he's trying to tell us something, all of them are trying to tell us something, and I believe they all say the same thing."

"What?" Harry and Ron asked simultaneously.

"Well ..." Hermione said with a rather odd tone to her voice. "Don't stick your nose in our business." She made it sound like a suggestion.

Harry and Ron both turned red as they realized that, indeed, once again, they were minding other people's business while the person in question didn't mind theirs. They had by fluke found out that there was something odd about the Professor, but already before that they had stuck their noses into his business.

"But", Harry protested, "he has some kind of connection to an ancient Pharaoh that controls power beyond our imagination. Isn't it understandable for us to want to know whether he's a threat or not?"

"Don't you think Dumbledore did?" Hermione asked and then said something that to Harry felt like a slap in the face, "People kill what they fear. What is it you really want to know about the Professor?"

Harry had no decent answer on that and remained silent. What did he want to know? He was worried since he couldn't find anything that was worth knowing. Hermione had asked out of curiosity and yes, she had been suspicious, but not in the same way he had been. Hermione had known that there was more to the Professor than he had told her but hadn't jumped to conclusions, Harry had. He had automatically decided that the teacher belonged to the 'bad guys' simply because he was part of something Harry couldn't understand, but the Professor was simply trying to avenge his friends. Didn't that make sense?

"Has Professor Muto ever told us what the Pharaoh is up to while he is teaching?" Harry wondered, his voice gave away how ashamed he was.

Hermione shook her head but Ron nodded. Two pair of eyes looked at him confused. "Well, Professor Muto didn't, but Professor Trelawney did. Her prophecy", he explained when both others were left with blank expressions. "She said that _they_ anticipate it's arrival, not _he_. I think that both of them might be striving for the same goal, it'd make sense wouldn't it?"

When Harry and Hermione both shook their heads Ron made an annoyed noise. "Yes it does. From what Professor Muto told us we can state that the Pharaoh and the King of Games were friends, good friends. How big are the odds of the Professor's friends being the Pharaoh's friends too?"

"Ron, you're a genius", Hermione said and Ron went red.

"So", Harry said, "the two of them are probably just striving for revenge. Revenge on the Death Eater that killed their friends. Despite all power they are just two grieving persons, just two persons." Harry looked up at the Professor and realized with a shock that he was standing right in front of him.

The short man nodded softly. "You didn't think of me as human." It was a statement, not a question.

Harry shook his head. "No, I didn't. I wish I could say that I didn't know why, but that would be a lie."

"You don't have to explain to me. It's good that you three realize this now, perhaps you'll leave me alone. I hope so, things are never as they seem, but sometimes they don't need to be more than exactly that. It suffices." With those cryptic words the Professor turned away, for a moment lost in thoughts, then he turned back to face his students and continued his class about the nuclear bombs.

Ron who had started to pay attention after the rather startling reaction of the Japanese was turning more and more pale as Professor Muto explained the concept of the Nuclear bomb and what happened at Hiroshima. In the middle of Professor Muto's captivating lecture Harry noticed that Hermione's eyes caught something, something that had to be interesting since Harry had a hard time imagining her forgetting about the lecture. He followed her gaze as the rest of the class started pointing at the window and Professor Muto fell silent.

"Oh, I've always loved that owl, she's so beautiful", Lavender told Parvati and Parvati smiled. What Harry found weird was that the little statement from Lavender made the Professor smile in … well, relief.

Harry frowned but was about to stand up as Professor Muto walked towards the window and opened it. Harry had expected Hedwig to fly away as soon as someone else but him opened the window, but she didn't. She sat on the windowsill, unsure about what to do, she was gazing at Harry as if she was thinking deeply. The Professor nearly matched her expression, he was examining the owl closely and eventually picked her up, he tried to be careful, but it was obvious to anyone that the the teacher with the triple-colored hair was not used to owls. To Harry's great surprise Hedwig didn't protest to the fact that someone else than Harry picked her up.

Professor Muto frowned in a way that Harry didn't find very relaxing as he asked: "Who's owl is this?"

"Mine, Professor", Harry said as he threw the letter on her leg a worried glance. He knew very well who the letter was from and though he trusted Sirius not to give away any vital information Harry preferably hadn't that Professor Muto read it.

"Take this owl of yours and bring it to Professor Grubbly-Plank, she's injured", Professor Muto said and walked towards Harry with the owl on his arm without taking his eyes from Harry's. Harry noticed the odd color of the Professors eyes, they didn't look natural quite natural. They were like two large amethyst stones in the rather childlike face.

Harry took Hedwig from the stern looking teacher and hurried out of the classroom, his face burning red.

* * *

><p>Rebecca had been waiting for Tracey for quite a while and had been unsure on whether she was going to show up at all when Tracey arrived at the Room of Requirement. Rebecca yelled in surprise as she saw what Tracey looked like. She ran forward and caught the Slytherin before she fell to the ground. "Help!" Rebecca yelled at the closed door and lifted Tracey, supporting her all the way.<p>

Tracey had been abused, badly abused. She had a large bruise on one side of her face and her nose was bleeding, but by the way Tracey was standing Rebecca could tell that the injuries on her face were nothing in compare to the injuries done to the rest of her body. Rebecca knew why. It was no secret that she and Dean had something going on, it wasn't something that they were trying to hide. Neither the Gryffindors nor the Slytherins had been very pleased with the slightly odd pair and everyone had just been waiting for something like this to happen.

It was Neville who hurried out first, closely followed by Luna, Fred and George. "My god!" Neville said ans stopped dead in his tracks, making Luna run into him.

"Dean!" Fred yelled as George took the Slytherin girl from Rebecca who was yielding under Tracey's dead weight.

Dean entered the hallway and let out a wordless cry of fury.

The rest of the group had gathered in the doorway and were watching with curiosity and confusion written over their faces.

"Can you walk?" George asked the girl but received no reaction. Dean waved a hand before Tracey's eyes, but when that didn't lead to a reaction he growled.

Fred and George had taken control over the situation and were giving orders so quickly and effectively that Rebecca was surprised. In general she had only heard bad things about the Weasley twins, but everyone here listened to them. They seemed to be more respected than Rebecca had realized.

"Everyone, back inside! If anyone asks you don't know a thing about this. Harry, get this show on the road. We'll take care of her", Fred said and chased the people in the door opening back into the Room of Requirement. "Not you Lee, you have to stay with us!"

George looked at Dean, then at Rebecca. She expected him to chase her back into the Room of Requirement too, but he didn't. "Rebecca Hawkins? Right?" he wondered and looked at her.

Rebecca nodded.

"Go see Professor Snape and tell him one of his students is injured. Don't let him know that you know Tracey, it will lead to too many questions. Say that you were heading for the library and found us with Tracey, we told you to go see Professor Snape and inform him. With us I means Lee, Fred, Dean and me. That's all you have to know, Snape will assume that it was us who beat her up, but that we'll fix later. Hurry, I'm taking her to the hospital wing." He scooped the as good as unconscious Slytherin in his arms and carried her towards the hospital wing, followed by Lee, Fred and a furious Dean.

Rebecca turned the other way and ran towards Snape's office. She didn't stop to catch her breath but just shoved people out of her way. As she came closer to the dungeons the amount of people she had to push out of her way decreased quickly, but the few she did meet threw her displeasing and suspicious glances. Some yelled at her, but Rebecca didn't care enough to listen.

As soon as she reached Snape's office she knocked on his door violently. "Open, please! It's urgent!"

A very pissed Snape opened the door and he became even more sour when he saw who was standing before him but Rebecca didn't care about the Professors less than welcome glare. "A student of yours has been injured. Fred and George took her to the Hospital wing, she seemed beaten up badly. She's a fifth or sixth year, she was outside the library ..." Rebecca panted and spoke faster than ever before.

Snape didn't stay to listen to the ramble and walked away, completely ignoring Rebecca. Rebecca, who didn't really know what else to do followed him.  
>She nearly had to run to keep up with Snape and she was glad that she had a good condition, she had run quite the distance today. Hadn't the castle been so big it would have been way easier for everyone to get something done.<p>

Snape pushed open the door that led to the Hospital wing and everyone inside it looked up, everyone but Tracey who had fainted somewhere along the way.  
>Fred, George, Lee and Dean where still there, clearly they had been waiting for Professor Snape. Fred, George and Lee were sitting on a hospital bed opposite that of Tracey's and Dean was sitting next to her.<p>

Madam Pomfrey hurried towards Professor Snape. "She's over here", the witch said, which was rather obvious, since Tracey's was the only bed occupied.

"Who is it? What happened?" Professor Snape asked, answering the first question himself by simply going to check.

"Tracey Davis, Professor. The four boys over there brought her in, they found her outside the library. She is battered and bruised all over, she'll be fine, but it could take a while. As for what happened to her before she ended up outside the library you'll have to ask her, when she wakes"

"Has the headmaster been informed?" Snape asked and Rebecca cocked her head slightly, was this the real Professor Snape? Was he the kind of teacher that pretended to hate children but that actually cared deeply for them when push came to shove? It seemed that way.

"No, the only ones currently aware of her condition are we", Madam Pomfrey said and shoveled away to her office, glad to get away from the unfriendly looking teacher.

"Hawkins, go tell Professor Dumbledore. What are you still standing around for? Go!" he urged impatiently. "Thomas! What are you doing there?"

Rebecca had opened one of the double doors but waited for Dean's answer. She was curios and she could tell that Lee, Fred and George had their ears wide open too. "Well, Professor, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I left her alone when she's in such a state?"

Rebecca smiled widely at those words and had to resist the urge to look behind her to see Snape's facial expression.

* * *

><p>Snape was completely blown away by the Gryffindor's confession. He had been in love with a Gryffindor and that had been completely unacceptable, that's why he had kept it quiet, that and the fact that he didn't want to ruin the friendly relation he and Lilly had.<p>

Tracey Davis and Dean Thomas had taken a great risk by breaking the unwritten rules that divided the school houses and now Davis had paid the price. Snape knew that it was most likely a Slytherin who had abused the unconscious girl, just to show that he would not tolerate a Slytherin being with a Gryffindor. He stood a while and stared out a window, lost in thoughts, no one interrupted him.

Snape turned away from Dean Thomas and looked at the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan. "What are you three still doing here?" he snapped. "Surely you aren't dating her too?" Irony dripped from the teacher's voice.

Fred shook his head. "No, but when you find an unconscious girl in the hallways you'd like to know how she's doing."

"She'll be fine, now get out before her parents arrive!" Snape bellowed at the three of them. He could tell by the glare that Madam Pomfrey threw him that she most of all wanted to tell him to keep quiet, but she didn't dare.

The three sixth years were about to take their leave when the door opened again. In came the headmaster together with a man and woman that without a doubt were Tracey's parents. Several meters behind them Rebecca Hawkins entered the hospital wing too, she seemed to have come simply because she didn't know what else to do.

Madam Pomfrey hurried out of her office. "Only six visitors at a time!"

"We were already leaving", Jordan told the elder woman with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Annoyance that Snape understood quite well.

"No, please wait" the woman who had come with Dumbledore said and gripped George's arm, "Rebecca told us that a couple of students had found Tracey and brought her here. Were that you?" She had a very intense gaze Snape noticed and felt an immediate liking towards the woman. That was how he worked. He decided what he thought about a person by first impression and then refused to change his opinion. He knew it was a bad trait, but he didn't feel like changing it.

"Yes, that was us", George said and looked at the hand on his arm with a frown.

"I just wanted to thank you. You are no Slytherin, are you?" she wondered and had a look in her eyes that Snape found unnerving.

"No, ma'm, I'm a Gryffindor. We are all Gryffindors, except Rebecca who is a Ravenclaw. But that should not matter, should it?" George asked.

"It doesn't matter at all, not to me. It's just that it's so unusual for the two houses to help each other out."

"Ma'm", Fred said and made a very theatrical bow. "A gentleman always helps a lady in distress." Then Fred lost his theatrical tone and became fully serious as he looked at Tracey. "Especially in cases like these."

"What do you mean?" Mrs Davis wondered but Fred just smiled and shook his head as the three Gryffindors and Hawkins left.

"Dean, are you coming?" Jordan wondered as he stopped in the door opening.

Dean shook his head. "No, not yet. I'll see you."

The three sixth years walked out the room, Rebecca waved at Dean in goodbye and threw the unconscious girl on the bed another look. "Will she really be okay?" she asked madam Pomfrey and no one could doubt the blonde's sincerity in her worries.

"Yes she will be. Now get out of the hospital wing!" madam Pomfrey said in a way that displeased Snape immensely.

Rebecca turned red but glared at the matron, not the least bothered by all the adults watching. She walked out the hospital wing muttering unfriendly things, just low enough for them not to understand what she was saying.

"What happened?" Mrs Davis asked no one in particular. Snape admired her alertness, she hadn't assumed the worst and she hadn't had an unnecessary breakdown.

"She's been abused", he said and turned towards the girls parents, "I'll look into this at once."

"But why?" Tracey's father wondered with a heavy Scottish accent.

"That's probably my fault, sir", Dean Thomas said and drew attention to himself where he was sitting next to Tracey.

"What?"

"I reckon you know the story of Romeo and Juliette? It's much like that, though Gryffindor and Slytherin rather than Montague and Capulet."

"You're Dean Thomas", Mrs Davis stated. "Tracey has told us about you. The History teacher made you two work together at the beginning of the term, correct?"

Dean smiled weakly and nodded. "Professor Muto is very focused on uniting us all. He goes far to do so, he isn't afraid of giving us nightmares. He's good though."

Snape frowned. The classes of Professor Yugi Muto were a big mystery amongst the teachers, they had all avoided the foreigner after the overall mental breakdown from the fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors. Had the sudden understanding between the two classes something to do with Professor Muto's rumored lesson?  
>The lesson that Thursday had been made horrible in the rumors that went through the school. But what were these rumors based on? All were based on the way the Slytherins and Gryffindors were acting, but had anyone actually talked to one of them? Not one Slytherin had come to complain about the lesson and as far as Snape knew, neither had the Gryffindors.<p>

* * *

><p>Rebecca didn't miss any more DA meetings, she made sure of that. Her progress was quite fast for someone who was new to the entire magic thing, which still made her the slowest in class. Peter turned out to have a never ending patience and he stood up as a volunteer for Rebecca to try the disarming charm on.<br>Rebecca got easily frustrated and swore a whole lot every time she failed, she kept it in Japanese so the first years wouldn't be all to scared by her, but for some reason the foreign language scared them even more.

In the beginning people had looked up startled every time she failed but after only two meetings they just smiled every time they heard the unfamiliar swearing. She felt Harry's eyes upon her and she glared at him. "Do you expect anyone to succeed at anything when you are watching them that closely?"

Harry smiled at that, but to Rebecca the smile seemed rather awkward, nearly as if he was afraid. "You've got quite the temper. Just try it once more, I'm here to teach you, remember? If you would be able to do a successful disarming-charm in such a short period of time you'll have my undying respect. It takes more than a couple of weeks to learn the basics of magic in general, learning spells longer and spells like the disarming charm should take another month at the very least if you want to be considered the least normal and even then you'd be very talented."

Rebecca sighed and tried to disarm Peter once again, nothing happened. She sighed again, more deeply.

Harry cocked his head. "Hm, interesting."

"What?" Rebecca asked sourly.

"The only thing you could have missed is your faith. Have you accepted the fact that something will happen when you wave your wand yet? Believing in it is vital, if you don't expect something to happen it won't." With those words Harry had left.

From that moment on she made a progress that was admirable, although it was still slow compared to the others.

Rebecca visited Tracey while she was in the hospital wing. She had been pretty shaken by the actual dislike among the houses and she had to make sure that Tracey was alright. She was there when Tracey awoke the first time. The first words Tracey spoke were: "Aw, my head."

"I've been told your head will be fine", Rebecca said and smiled.

Tracey turned and her eyes widened in surprise. "Rebecca Hawkins?"

"Yap", Rebecca said.

"What happened?" Tracey asked, "And why are you here?"

"Someone beat you up. Fred, George, Lee and Dean brought you here. I ran into the five of you outside the library and went to get Professor Snape", Rebecca explained briefly.

"Is that so?" Tracey wondered and raised an eyebrow.

Rebecca laughed silently. "No, but that's the version you need to know. It's what we told everyone. As for me being here, I just want to make sure that you're alright." Rebecca went silent for a minute. "How come that the only ones I ever find in here are Dean or your parents? Don't you have any friends among the Slytherins?"

"Not anymore. Or actually no, I never had any and the few people I ever talked to will probably be mad at me now. They feel betrayed, I am now officially a blood-traitor. Hang on … are my parents here?"

Rebecca nodded. "They just left half an hour ago and I've been here for about ten minutes. If you want I'll go tell Dumbledore that you've woken, he'll contact them."

"Eh, no thanks. I don't really feel like being alone right now", Tracey admitted. "I get nightmares so easily. They are weird nightmares. It feels better not being alone."

Rebecca smiled and thought about what Atem had told her. "_The students lived what happened in the Concentration and Extermination camps. They don't remember it, but do at the same time, it's an unconscious knowledge. Post Traumatic Stress __Disorder was the result, nightmares, survivors guilt, fear, anger … and I can't make it undone"_

"I'll sit here as long as you want. I believe that Dean will be coming soon too though. He doesn't leave your side unless if he is forced to", Rebecca said and poked Tracey lightly on the shoulder.

The dark-haired girl laughed silently, then the blood drained from her face. "Has he met my parents?"

"Eh, well, yes. Why?"

Tracey didn't seem to be very glad, to be frank she looked scared. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!"

"They got along fine. They had some time to talk. You've been wasted for two entire weeks you know", Rebecca reassured Tracey and did her best to hide her laughter.

"Really?" Tracey wondered.

"Yeah, your mother is proud of both Dean and you for standing up for what you feel despite all the hardship and your dad and Dean get along too. He's a very easygoing man, your father, though I hope he'll never gets his hands on the person who did this to you. Not Dean either for that matter", Rebecca added thoughtfully and Tracey laughed

They were quiet a while, both grinning. Then something came to Tracey's mind and her smile faltered. "Rebecca, can I ask you something?"

"Eh, I guess."

"Professor Muto told us something, something that bothered me. You see, he has these passwords on the door, the door says names. When we asked about it he told us about a tomb that collapsed, killing nearly everyone he cared about. But you two know each other, so perhaps … were they your friends too?" Tracey asked and frowned.

Rebecca hadn't seen that coming and the smile disappeared from her face instantly. "Yes they were, not all of them, but all the friends I ever had died down there. All, with exception for Yugi. You know, I wanted to be there, it was an important day, but I wasn't. Had I been there, I might have died, I probably would have died. There were three survivors, nine dead, it was a terrible accident."

"How do you … How?" Tracey couldn't find the words, but it wasn't necessary.

"You don't, not really. I mean, it was four years ago, so I have moved on with my life, but … I'll always be missing them. I attended their funerals, I attended six funerals in less than a month. After a while it becomes a blur, all of it. Yugi didn't show, I was so pissed at him, but he found it too hard. He just disappeared, hell did I know that he was teaching here. If I only had ..." Rebecca shook her head. "Now I'm here, on the edge of war and I'm so afraid that it'll happen again."

"So that's why you take distance from everyone", Tracey said. "Oh."

"Why do you?" Rebecca asked, not interested in talking more about herself. "Do you distance yourself from everyone else for a reason?"

Tracey nodded. "Yes I do, but I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine", Rebecca said and smiled. "That's fine."

"Thank you", Tracey said and closed her eyes. "Can you stay even if I fall asleep?"

Rebecca thought about the PTSD once again and whispered "Yes. I'll stay as long as Madam Pomfrey will allow me. The moon is already rising, so I don't know when she'll kick me out, but soon I think."

At those words Tracey sat up at once. "The moon! No! What day is it?"

"Thursday. Why?"

Tracey sat up and pulled away the curtains as she stumbled on unwilling legs towards the nearest by window. The first moonbeams were already coloring the landscape.

"Rebecca, this is important. Can you do something for me?"

The scared tone in Tracey's voice made Rebecca worry. "Yes, of course."

"Run, run as fast as you can towards the office of Professor Snape and tell him I need wolfsbane potion as quickly as possible!"

"But why?" Rebecca wondered, far too confused to act.

"You don't know?" Tracey wondered genuinely confused. "The reason I distance myself from others, the reason which I didn't want to talk about. Rebecca, I'm a werewolf." Tracey had barely time to finish her sentence before she fell to the ground twisting and screaming.

Rebecca backed towards the double door as she stared in horror and fascination at the Slytherin girl who now was a wolf-like creature, hardly distinguishable from a real wolf. The snout was different and so was the tail.

Tracey howled, waking madam Pomfrey who hurried out of her office just in time to see the werewolf take a leap for Rebecca.

* * *

><p>Plot twist! Let me know what you think of furry Tracey. More on her in the next chapter.<br>Now I wonder, do you think Rebecca will also have a wolf of a problem next month or does Tracey miss?  
>You have to admit, the chances are equal.<br>Guess !

An off-screen first DA meeting. Have you ever seen that before?

Anyone wondering where Yugi's sword came from? I have no idea whatsoever. Perhaps it is better for all of us not to know. Much can happen in four years …

Give me your reviews or I'll take Yugi's mysterious sword and force them out of you! Don't try to fight me with a wabbajack, it won't work!  
>(No I do not play Skyrim, but for some reason everyone always mentions it)<p> 


	16. Furry Tracey

So sorry for the late update. I've noticed that I turned out to be very much the once a week person, but I actually update as soon as I'm done with a chapter.  
>Now the nationals have started at school and they stretch out throughout the remainder of the school year. I'm buried over my ears in homework, so it'll be more like once every two weeks updating.<br>I'll do my very best though. Bare with me!

* * *

><p>No one was quite sure how smart shadow creatures were, at least not as far Rebecca knew. Not that there were many people aware of their existence, but among those who were the opinions varied. Rebecca supposed that it depended on the nature of the creature and who's soul it had once been part of.<p>

Rebecca very much wondered who's soul Sangan had belonged to. He didn't seem to be the smartest of creatures. As Tracey had taken a leap for Rebecca's throat and madam Pomfrey had fainted the little hairy thing with its green legs and arms had jumped out of nowhere, right into the jaws of the werewolf. Although Tracey's jaws easily could have broken Rebecca's neck they weren't even able to close around the little three-eyed hairball.

When the werewolf was unable to crush the shadow creature she tried to spit him out, but Sangan forced himself even further into the muzzle making that impossible too. Tracey shook her head viciously as Rebecca just stared at the two of them. She was leaning against the wall, hyperventilating. It's okay, she kept telling herself, it's okay.

Rebecca needed a couple of minutes to recover from the shock as the little fiend bravely removed the werewolf's ability to use her strong canines, her now clearly visible and very long canines. When Rebecca had gathered herself she carefully walked toward madam Pomfrey and dragged the matron into her office. She closed the door and wished she was strong and skilled enough to barricade it by magical means, but instead she pushed the heavy desk against it. After that she did some futile attempts to wake madam Pomfrey, but the matron was dead to the world.

Rebecca, who slowly started to realize that she was stuck in a small, dark office with an unconscious nurse while there was a murderous werewolf outside fighting a shadow creature, started hyperventilating again and used another couple of minutes to calm down. When she was calm enough she asked herself one question: What now? At first that seemed like an impossible question, but it didn't take long before she realized that there was only one answer to it. _Wait until morning._

She sighed and looked at the clock, it was only nine and Rebecca assumed that it would take a long time before would Tracey turn back to a human. And then, for a reason Rebecca couldn't understand, she started laughing, laughing uncontrollably. As she laughed tears started to run down her face and she noticed that she was in shock. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought about Sangan and when the tears stopped running she took his card out of her deck.  
>"Thanks", she whispered and for a moment she could swear that she heard a happy squeal from the other side of the door, though it probably was just her imagination.<p>

It took Rebecca about two hours before she grew tired of waiting in the tiny office, from the hospital wing growls and squeals still emerged with regular intervals. All Rebecca could do was hope that Sangan would last out the night, no matter how much Rebecca actually worried about the fiend, she was more worried about the door and the desk which most likely wouldn't be able to stand the werewolf's fury for a very long time.

Out of shear boredom Rebecca started practicing her spells. She practiced each and every one she could think of and looked at her watch about every ten minutes. She didn't know whether it was due to the fact that she was only being half serious in the practicing or because she had done it for such a long time in a row that she for once actually seemed to make any progress. In the back of her mind she grieved the fact that she was so tired that she in the morning probably wouldn't remember that she actually managed both the summoning charm on a pot of ink standing on the desk and the tickling charm on a spider in the corner of the office.

Every now and then she noticed that her eyes were about to shut but she refused to go to sleep. She couldn't know whether Tracey would attack the door next. To keep herself awake in the dead of the night she started to sing at the top of her lungs, an extremely annoying song that would turn anyone insane, including Rebecca, which was the perfect way to keep her awake. She checked her watch once again, it showed three in the morning. Great.

Then she heard something, it was a kind of banging on the other side of the wall. Rebecca crawled towards it and knocked back carefully, unsure about what would happen.

"If you do not stop singing that atrocious song at this inhumane hour than I might slip some Fungiface potion into your morning tea."

The first thing that shot Rebecca to mind was that she didn't drink tea, then her mind gathered itself. The voice from the other side of the wall was undeniable. "Professor Snape?" Rebecca called out. "Is that you?"

"Yes", the voice was cold and absolutely uninterested.

"Professor Snape, it's Rebecca, please, I need your help!" Rebecca called out, so eager that she stumbled over her own words. "I need help. Me and madam Pomfrey are locked up in her office. It's Tracey, she woke up today and then she just changed. She just changed and attacked us. Madam Pomfrey fainted but I barricaded us in her office."

A flow of curses came from the other side of the wall. "Was any of you bitten?"

Rebecca shook her head but then realized that wouldn't get her far. "No, Tracey missed."

She heard a door open and close at the other side of the wall and Snape was gone, though now she could relax. She wouldn't be spending the night in the small, dark office. In about a minute someone was knocking on the door to the hospital wing. "Hawkins!" Professor McGonagall called out so that probably the entire first floor could have heard her.

"Yes, Professor, I'm here! Be careful!" the blonde called out to the transfiguration teacher. Of course Rebecca was worried about what would happen to Sangan if the teachers discovered him, the little hairball was, judging by the sound, still trying to choke the werewolf while the werewolf herself was doing everything she could to get rid of the three-eyed creature with its razor-sharp teeth and claws, but Rebecca also knew that shadow creatures could take care of themselves. Just as she thought the thought Tracey started to howl and Rebecca knew that Sangan had taken his leave. It didn't take a second before the werewolf attacked the door that led to madam Pomfrey's office, her progress was even faster than Rebecca had feared. "Hurry! Please! I barricaded the door but it won't hold much longer!"

Within three seconds Rebecca heard the double doors open and a spell was shouted at the werewolf. "Stupefy", Rebecca heard Professor Snape shout and a loud thud as the body of the unconscious werewolf hit the floor.

"It's okay now", Professor McGonagall told the door which Rebecca and the still unconscious madam Pomfrey were behind, "You can come out."

Rebecca pulled the heavy desk away and opened the door. She was met by the sight of a room in utter chaos. Nearly all beds were on their sides, the sheets had been ripped and torn, so were the curtains, one of the windows had broken and long scratches were visible over the walls, floor and doors on which Tracey had unleashed her fury. In the middle of all this chaos stood Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, Professor Dumbledore entered just as Rebecca exited madam Pomfrey's office. Tracey was lying on her side, she was so still that Rebecca for a moment thought she was dead, but she banished the thought as soon as it appeared.

"Will she be okay?" Rebecca asked the Professors.

"Tracey Davis will be just fine, she's only been stunned and will awake soon after she'll have transformed back. The question is: Will you be alright?" Professor McGonagall asked and looked worried.

"I was in shock, but eh, that was a couple of hours ago. I'll manage with a nightmare or two, it's madam Pomfrey I'm worried about. She fainted when Tracey transformed and hasn't woken up since."

Dumbledore didn't wait for Rebecca to finish her sentence but hurried past her and levitated madam Pomfrey out of the room with some quick instructions. "Minerva, Severus, could you clean up here a bit so that the hospital wing will be useable again. I believe it will be best for miss Davis to remain here for the remainder of the night as she will not wake up before she transforms back. Minerva, could you please stay with her for the remainder of the night. Severus, could you come and see me as soon as you are done."

"Professor Dumbledore, wait!" Rebecca called out and tried to ignore the matron who was levitating in midair next to the headmaster. "Can I stay too?"  
>At the rather confused frown from all the teachers Rebecca sighed and explained further. "Before Tracey was reminded of the full moon she asked me to stay, since she easily got nightmares when alone, I promised I would as long as I was allowed and I don't want to break that promise."<p>

"Now why would you promise such a thing?" a rather grim and displeased Snape wondered. "She's not from your house."

"To hell with all the houses!" Rebecca exploded, having lost all her patience with everything and everyone. "Who gives a damn about who is in which house! Peter is in Ravenclaw, Ginny is in Gryffindor, Tracey is in Slytherin and that should mean that I have to treat one better than the others! Which fool has decided that people should have to be divided in a way that creates boundaries nearly uncrossable! Hasn't any of you heard thet basics of psychology? How can any of you expect one united school which such a system! It sucks!" It took Rebecca about three seconds to realize what she had just said, but refused to take her words back. After all, they had been quite true.

Three pair of eyes were staring at her as if she had exclaimed that she single handed had choked a dragon to death. When no one spoke Rebecca stared at the ground and silently added: "I will not apologize for speaking my mind, but perhaps for the language."

"Your words speak of wisdom, but not of patience", Dumbledore said calmly. "Perhaps we will let you speak at the opening feast next year instead of the sorting hat, perhaps that will get through to the students. Feel free to stay here for the remainder of the night with Professor McGonagall, but if you do I'd advise you not to attend any classes tomorrow." With those words Dumbledore left and unfortunately for Rebecca she didn't know the headmaster well enough to hear the tone of amusement and respect hidden beneath his seemingly uncaring tone.

It took Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape about five minutes to fix the entire room. Rebecca just lifted the werewolf and put her on one of the beds that Professor McGonagall had repaired and pulled the sheets over the unmoving form, then she sat down in red chair next to the Slytherin, put her chin on the mattress and studied the face of the wolf.

McGonagall took a chair from across the room and put it down next to Rebecca. The two females sat next to each other in utter silence. It wasn't a comfortable silence but Rebecca didn't feel like breaking it. It took slightly longer than Rebecca had expected, but eventually Professor McGonagall broke the silence. "How come you were able to get into the office before Tracey attacked. Most people do not get through a situation like the one you were in without being bitten?"

"She warned me, Professor, just before she transformed. She told me to get Professor Snape but I didn't react fast enough so the only possibility I had was madam Pomfrey's office. I didn't even know werewolves existed until this all happened."

"You didn't know? It's common knowledge in the wizarding world and there is taught about them in school." McGonagall was quiet in about a minute before she added: "Then again, you are just new here. It's so easy to forget that."

"Is it?" Rebecca wondered disturbed.

Professor McGonagall nodded without looking at Rebecca. "You melted into the school. Surely the students talked and gossiped about you, and I must admit, so did the teachers, but you managed to become a part of the school so fast that it feels as if you've been here ever since the first year."

"I like to stay anonymous", Rebecca said and frowned. "Everyone is allowed to see me, as long as they don't know me. With Yugi around it isn't always equally easy, no matter where you go, but it's still a skill I've got. And then there is Hogwarts. Hogwarts isn't my home, it's not my element, I do not belong here. I just can't get it right, it is as if someone decided that I was supposed to be here despite my obvious lack of talent for magic."

Professor McGonagall didn't really know what to say, she wasn't used to such open answers from her students. They, much like the castle itself, did their very best to keep their secrets from as many people as possible, especially teachers.  
>It had rarely happened to Professor McGonagall that a student admitted that he or she didn't like it at Hogwarts, that they felt misplaced.<p>

"Hogwarts is home to anyone who needs it", Professor McGonagall said, thinking about the words the headmaster used to speak. Rebecca was thinking about them too, Dumbledore had spoken them when they first met. 'Help will be offered at all of those who ask for it at Hogwarts'

"That's the problem, it isn't like I didn't have a home. I never wanted to come, so why was asked to? I mean, why now, why so late? I build my life around the opposite of magic and now all that comes crumbling down. I feel misplaced. Can you tell me Professor, why now, after all this time?"

Professor McGonagall frowned deeply. "The Ministry usually automatically detects children with the magical gift, but in rare cases the gift they have is underdeveloped and they wont be detected. During the time their magic is passive it grows unusually strong and eventually they are detected when it surfaces. These witches and wizards tend to be abnormally gifted and powerful."

"But I am not, the only thing I don't screw up is potions", Rebecca said calmly and stood up. She started to pace back and forth in the Hospital wing slowly. "I might have chosen my words wrong. It's not like I dislike it here, I am actually making friends and I must say that it is all fascinating, but it just that feeling telling me that I do not belong here."

Professor McGonagall's expression could only mean one thing: pity. The normally stern-looking teacher opened her mouth to say something, changed her mind and said something different. "How much of you is speaking out of tiredness?"

"Entire me. I'd appreciate if you could forget everything I've just told you", Rebecca said and grinned a bit. "Now what did you really want to ask?"

McGonagall was taken aback by Rebecca's bluntness but spoke the question she had originally wanted to ask. "Yugi Muto, he's a friend of yours, isn't he? What's the story behind it? None of the teachers has dared ask after what happened with Umbridge."

Professor McGonagall didn't miss the dark look that momentarily appeared on Rebecca's face when Umbridge was mentioned, it disappeared soon though, a little amused smile appeared instead. "I do not understand why people make such a great deal out of it. I was eight and Yugi was in high school, we met out on the street. I accused his grandfather for stealth, I was wrong though. I learned a valuable lesson and gained a friend. There is no more to it."

"Oh", McGonagall said and Rebecca laughed out loud at the disappointment in McGonagall's voice. "Then what about Umbridge? What happened?"

Tracey chose that exact moment to transform back into human form and wake. "Oh, what happened?" she groaned and then her eyes flew up. "No!" She sat up and was just in time to grab the sheets when she realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes. Her eyes fell upon Rebecca and fear was visible over her face. "Why are you still here? You didn't … Did I …?"

McGonagall pushed the Slytherin gently back down and said with a soothing voice: "The only damage done was to this room, and that was easily mended."

Tracey started to breathe a little slower at those words but still had fear in her eyes. "Why are you still here", she snapped at Rebecca. "To scold me?"

"Why would I do that? I stayed because you wanted me to", Rebecca said before McGonagall could protest.

"No one keeps such a promise", Tracey said and Rebecca now saw tears running down her cheeks.

"_I_ do", Rebecca said offended.

"But still ..." Tracey didn't finish her sentence and closed her eyes, shaking with silent sobs.

"Miss Davis, I'm not sure that Rebecca understands why you are so afraid", Professor McGonagall said quietly. "See, until before tonight, she did not know about werewolves, even less about the common opinion on them."

Tracey snapped up again, grabbing the sheets, only to be pushed down once again by Professor McGonagall. "Lay still. You need to rest."

"Don't you know?" Tracey asked incredulous and looked at Rebecca.

"Know what?" Rebecca wondered.

Tracey just closed her eyes and gave a harsh laugh so Professor McGonagall took the liberty to tell Rebecca.  
>"Werewolves are scolded by society. They have a hard time getting a job and hadn't it been for Dumbledore werewolves wouldn't have been allowed to attend this school. Many people have prejudice against werewolves and thus we leave it to the student suffering from Lycanthropy in question to tell the people they want to know him or herself. The only ones who know from the start are Professor Dumbledore as headmaster, me as deputy headmistress and Professor Snape since he makes the wolfsbane-potions and the head of house, in this case Professor Snape. Would a student that had grown up with the prejudice against werewolves common in the Wizarding world have gone through the same thing as you just have then the odds would be that the entire school would know by morning and then we'd soon have parents craving miss Davis to be suspended from the school."<p>

"Seriously?" Rebecca asked, not aware of the horrified expression on her face.

Tracey nodded lightly. "Mum told me not to tell anyone. She said that people who would appear to be trustworthy most likely would expose me to the entire school. I did as she advised and took distance from everyone, afraid that someone would notice what I was if I didn't."

"I won't tell a soul", Rebecca said and placed a hand upon her cards, making it the most holy of vows, even though Tracey wouldn't understand the importance of swearing on ones deck. "I swear, no one will know due to me."

"Why, Rebecca?" Tracey wondered.

"What?" the blonde wondered.

"Why would you promise such a thing? I mean, what am I to you? I'm not even in the same house."

Rebecca's eyes narrowed in a dangerous glare. "Do I have to start yelling at you too? I already yelled at Professor Snape because of the very same question. Don't have me start again! And if you have to know; to me you are a person very scared of something that won't happen who's company I quite enjoyed! Gha, wizards, witches and anything alike! Impossible!"

The Slytherin and the teacher were staring at Rebecca, who blushed faintly.  
>"Relieved some frustration?" Tracey wondered and smiled.<p>

Rebecca blushed harder but nodded.

"Thank you", Tracey just said, then turned towards Professor McGonagall. "What time is it?"

"Time for me to go attend my first class. Hawkins, I suggest you take the day off, I'll tell Professor Flitwick. You two can talk some more, but Hawkins, catch some sleep, you look horrible."  
>Rebecca gaped at the teacher but did not comment the rather insensitive statement.<br>"Madam Pomfrey is over there", Professor McGonagall just went on, "though I do not think she'll be of much help if something happens." The gray-haired teacher pointed towards the office in which Rebecca had spent the night hiding. She had no idea how Madam Pomfrey had ended up there without her noticing, but she decided not to think too much about it. McGonagall strode out of the room silently and closed the doors behind her, the echoing sound that followed their closure made the pressing silence a tad to obvious.

Rebecca chose to break it. "Tell me more", she demanded and sat down on a chair next to the bed.

"About what?" Tracey wondered confused.

"About you, silly. This entire werewolf thing is all new and intriguing to me! I could go to the library to look it all up, but who better to inform me than a werewolf herself?" Rebecca smiled saintlike and batted her eyes.

Tracey laughed out loud. "You really know how to make someone feel better. But anyway, since you're right, what do you want to know?"

"How long have you been like this?" Rebecca asked, her curiosity showing on her face.

Tracey laughed again. "Of all the questions, that is the first thing you'd ask?"  
>Then Tracey's smile disappeared.<br>"Since the summer between my third and fourth year. Mum had hired a werewolf to work for her in a shop she owns, she's from Bulgaria and she owns a muggle shop there. Mum didn't know that he was a werewolf and she fired him because he stole from her. Only a couple of weeks later a different werewolf called Fenrir Greyback attacked me. The werewolf mum fired was a friend of Greyback and Greyback avenged his friends job. He thought that mum had fired his friend because he was a werewolf, but that's no excuse. Ever since then I'm a werewolf."

Rebecca just gawked at the raven-haired girl. For a tenth of a second Tracey reminded Rebecca a bit of Mokuba, but she shook that thought out of her head equally fast. "Really?"

Tracey nodded. "Yes. He injured me badly, I though that I was going to die. I made my way home crawling that night. Dad was horrified but since he's a paramedic he instantly saw that my injuries weren't lethal. He told my mom that I would be fine, but she was hysterical and kept repeating that I wouldn't be. Mom never gets hysterical so when she wouldn't calm down dad understood that something really bad had happened, something that he didn't understand. He called a witch that lived in the same city, she wasn't a friend exactly, but the only witch dad knew who lived close by. As soon as he had told her half the story she was knocking on the door.  
>'Oh dear', she told dad. 'We must get her to St. Mungo's hospital for magic maladies and injuries immediately!'<br>Dad was surprised but he knew better but to protest. We traveled by floo powder. It was there they informed dad that I had become a werewolf. He took it quite well, I don't know how long it took before it sank in. Even the witch that had helped him, Gillera, reacted stronger then him."  
>Tracey sighed and Rebecca saw tears dripping down her face.<br>"I stayed there for four days, then we went home. It was dad who informed me. Only the previous school year Professor Snape had taught us about them, about werewolves. Certainly I knew that there was prejudice against them, but ever since that day Gillera Freespeech refuses to talk to any of us and she avoids me as much as she can. I was shocked, but Gillera's reaction warned me about what could happen at school.  
>Mom informed Professor Dumbledore by owl and he paid us a visit only a week later. He told mom and dad that they needn't worry and that werewolves had been allowed in Hogwarts before. He gave them Wolfsbane-potion that easily lasted throughout the summer. He also gave me some this summer. They informed Professor Snape and ever since he's been the one making that potion for me."<p>

Rebecca just stared.

"Two years ago we had a werewolf as a teacher. I wish he had stayed one more year, I'd have liked to talk to him. Professor Lupin was his name. He taught Defense Against the Dark Arts but was exposed and parents demanded that he'd quit, so he did. It's stupid, he was the best teacher we've ever had."

"Wow", Rebecca said, her mind still progressing all the information. "Just confirm for me that it is all true. Just say it."

"It's all true", Tracey said with a smile and laughed at Rebecca's facial expression.

"Am I the only student on this school aware of your condition?" Rebecca wondered curious.

Tracey nodded. "Mom told me to keep it quiet. I believe it was wise decision of me to follow that advise."

"How does it work?" Rebecca wondered intrigued and listened captivated to Tracey's explanation.

When she was done Rebecca shook her head and placed a hand on her forehead. "By everything ever considered holy, in what kind of world did I fall into?" she said it with a theatrical depressed tone but cracked a smile as soon as she had spoken the words.

Tracey laughed again. "Oh, thank you, oh , thank you! I believe I've been lucky." The Slytherin looked at Rebecca with a slight odd expression. "I've never met anyone like you before", she stated and the smile disappeared. "What about …"

"What about Dean?" Rebecca interrupted Tracey, feeling that she didn't want Tracey to finish that sentence. "I hope that you are aware of the fact that he called himself your boyfriend in the presence of your parents."

"He did what?" Tracey shot up again and Rebecca pushed her back down. "Lay still! You are still injured! And not dressed by the way, where did your clothes disappear to?"

"I probably ripped them to shreds while transforming. Could you fetch me some?" Tracey asked hopeful.

"Are you asking me to go down to the dungeons?" Rebecca asked skeptical. "You know they will not allow me in there, do you? But … You can lend some of mine. I might not fit, but you can try."

"Yes, thanks", Tracey said with a smile.

Rebecca stood up and called a quick, 'I'll be back!' over her shoulder as she hastily made her way through the corridors. She sprinted up the Ravenclaw tower, glad that it was deserted, and back to the hospital wing, meeting only Peeves who quickly got out of the way. Rebecca wondered why Peeves was so afraid of her, but she had the vague idea that Yugi knew, and that there was a reason for why he hadn't told her.

"Here you go", Rebecca said and dropped some muggle clothes on the bed. "I'll be outside if you need anything."

A figure rounded the corner and Rebecca had just enough time to see who it was before Tracey yelled. "I'm finished."  
>Rebecca shot into the room. "Dean is coming in about five seconds, make your choice. You can pretend to be unconscious, I won't give you away."<p>

Tracey looked panicked a second but a look of determination, worthy of a duelist, appeared on her face. She sat down on her bed, her legs hanging down the side. She looked slightly ridiculous with her striped, colorful leggings in Pippi Longstocking-style that were too short, her borrowed jeans skirt and the bright pink t-shirt, also too short. "I can't hide it forever? Can I?"

"I suppose not", Rebecca said, despite the serious situation having a hard time not to burst into a fit of giggles. "You're very brave."

"No, I'm not." Tracey's tone left no space for argument and Rebecca's smile disappeared.

Dean walked into the Hospital wing silently, as if he didn't want to wake the girl he still thought would be sleeping, but as soon as he saw Tracey sitting on the bed he forgot everything named silence. "Tracey!" he called out and literally ran towards her and hugged her.

Tracey pushed him away gently. "I have to tell you something and you might not like it."

The smile evaporated from Dean's face. "What?" he asked in confusion.

"I'll leave", Rebecca said and turned around but Tracey grabbed her arm. "No please, momentarily you feel like my lucky charm, that'll change soon, I hope, but could you stay for now please?"

"Eh … " Rebecca was left with a dilemma, but made up her mind soon. "Okay, I'll be right over there", she said and pointed towards a bed a couple of meters away. Before Tracey could protest Rebecca was already there.

Without even doing an effort Rebecca could tell what was being said and she really wanted to know, thus she listened.

"Do you remember Professor Lupin?" Tracey wondered carefully.

Dean nodded with a frown. "Yes, he was quite hard to forget. As I told Umbridge, the best teacher we ever had."

"Did Umbridge mention him?" Tracey wondered distracted.

"Yeah, she called him a … let me quote this correctly, 'an extremely dangerous half-breed'. Umbridge is an idiot, what does it matter if someone is or isn't a 'half-breed' as she so nicely puts it."

To both Dean's and Rebecca's astonishment Tracey burst out in tears. "Did I say something wrong?" Dean wondered panicked.

Tracey shook her head. "No, not at all. I'm sorry, it's been a rough night. Did you mean what you just said, that it doesn't matter?"

"Eh, well yes of course. If anything Professor Lupin proved that. He was a cool guy, wish he could have stayed. But what did you want to tell me?"

"Don't you know?" Tracey wondered and looked Dean straight in the eyes. Dean's expression stayed blank. "Rebecca told me about what you told my parents. Would that change if I wasn't … if I was a 'half-breed'?"

Understanding crashed down upon Dean. It was silent for right about three seconds and then Dean called out: "Hell no! I couldn't care less. You are you, that doesn't change!"

Rebecca took the pillow from the bed she was lying on to smother her own laugh. A strong, happy feeling made it's way throughout her. Even after the laughter died away she just couldn't stop smiling. When she looked over towards Dean and Tracey she saw the odd pair hugging, forehead to forehead. It was a weird thing to see, the Slytherin Werewolf and the Gryffindor Muggle-born, hugging as if their lives depended on it.

Rebecca stood up, doing very much her best not to make a sound. Slowly she walked out the room. She just reached out a hand towards the door when she heard a voice behind her. "Rebecca!"

The blonde turned around.

"Thank you", Tracey said and smiled.

Rebecca nodded and left the room, as she closed the doors she heard Dean say: "Tracey, what on earth are you wearing?"

* * *

><p>I actually have to stop here, otherwise this chapter will be really long.<br>Next chapter will include quidditch. That will be an interesting experience for Yugi and Rebecca.  
>After quidditch the thing we've all been waiting for, a shadow game for Umbridge. Whoaahhahaah!<br>Then some Christmas drama? Anyone interested? Hehe.

As for reviews. Everyone always says that they love reviews, that it is the best thing they know, every review is welcome.  
>In my case that isn't accurate. No feeling is more disappointing than seeing that you've received a review only to see that it consists out of two sentences.<br>At the other hand nothing is more fun to read than a well developed review, giving opinion on plot, characters, the little smooth jokes I try to plant into the story and so on. It's always nice with a little pointless rambling in the middle of all that and just feelings in general. Pointless attempts to guess what is going to happen. I could continue quite a while.  
>I like the people who do so.<br>The chapter Draco's Detention was dedicated to Big Sister K because she had hoped for more on the detention Draco escaped in chapter 7, so I gave him another one.  
>True reviewers are a vital part of any story. Not only do they keep the writer motivated, they also are infused within the story itself because there is no better way to thank a reviewer but to make them part of the story.<br>I just hope you give this all a thought before hitting the blue button down below.


	17. Yugi's Sword

Always wear a helmet when skiing, preferably goggles too. The goggles prevented me from breaking my nose and the helmet kept me from suffering a serious concussion. Yep, you guessed it, ski-accident. It wasn't my fault (at least that's my opinion), they forgot to stake out an unsafe part of the slope, so … Hehe, I couldn't feel the lower part of my face at all the remainder of the day, but we diehards just carry on.

I'll really try to write this chapter at more sensible parts of the day. I didn't tell you all but the previous was all written between 4 o'clock and 6 o'clock in the morning spread over several days. I'm a morning bird.

I've started to notice how easy it is for people to jump to the wrong conclusions. Since I know every detail of this chapter (not true, the details create themselves) I can't see the other possibilities people can see in different actions.  
>Here you'll get some answers on Rebecca's relation to the ancient past and the shadow creatures.<p>

* * *

><p>Only a day after Tracey was released from the hospital someone was banging on the door to Yugi's room. The simple fact that it was the door to his room and not his office on which they were banging told Yugi that it could be no one else but Rebecca.<p>

It was quite early in the morning and Yugi had barely awoken. Dobby had already accompanied him though and was sitting on a chair at the round table. He was telling Yugi about all the things that happened in the kitchen and before Rebecca's interruption he had been telling Yugi that he nearly had saved enough for another pair of socks.

"Hold on a second", he called towards the door in Japanese to make sure that it was Rebecca. When the banging stopped he assumed that it was, no one else there would have understood him. He put on his shoes and blue jacket, a remainder of his previous school uniform, which to his great disappointment still fitted. He opened the door to see Rebecca stand before him with thunderclouds over her head, but when he looked closer she seemed to be more worried than mad.

"Rebecca?" Yugi asked concerned and opened the door further so she could enter. "What are you doing here so early?"

The thunderclouds evaporated in a matter of seconds and Rebecca sat down next to Dobby, she still hadn't really noticed the house-elf. "I wanted to come yesterday afternoon, but I stayed with Tracey the whole night so I slept the entire day and night yesterday. Now I really have to tell you something."

Yugi who knew Rebecca well enough to recognize the signs of fear and doubt she showed sat down opposite her. "What is it? Tell me."

"You know that Shadow creatures are able to act on their own, right?" she asked to Yugi's great surprise, he hadn't been aware of how much she knew about the powers of the Millennium Items.

Yugi fingered a bit with the little red bag around his neck and frowned. "It's not me you should ask about that. I do not know. It's not quite clear to me, Atem hasn't told me everything, and I could mess things up. Ask him."

"You both have to hear this. I didn't really get it so I hope you can help", she said, speaking far faster than Yugi could ever imagine to do himself.

"Okay, I'll let you speak to Atem, I'll listen", Yugi said and withdrew so Atem could take his place. Yugi sat down in spirit-form next to Atem, invisible to Rebecca.

"Tell us", Atem said with his serious voice. A voice that, if used in the correct way, made a world listen without protesting to the words spoken.

Rebecca however knew Atem too well and wasn't the type to be intimidated, so instead of reacting to the tone like everyone else would have done she just repeated her previous question. Atem nodded. "Yes, I knew. The Shadow creatures aided their masters during the war and were definitely capable of thinking for themselves. However they were trapped in their tablets, they couldn't leave them without being called upon by a person wielding a Millennium Item. The shadows would stop them."

Rebecca nodded. "As I thought then. Who controls the shadows?"

"That would be me", Atem said and frowned. His scarlet eyes staring straight into Rebecca's, as if he tried to see what she was thinking.

Rebecca nodded, clearly she had known that too. "During the class in which you lost control over the shadows … during that time the shadows keeping the beasts locked away in their tablets, or actually cards now, weakened. Some beasts created a way to get in and out themselves. Fire Kraken informed me that they still were depending on the shadows and that they couldn't stay outside long when not being called upon, but they can come out. Yesterday Sangan saved my life, he just appeared out of nowhere!"

Atem rubbed his temples. "A lot went wrong that day." Then it was quiet for a minute. "What did he save you from?" he asked disturbed when he realized what she had said. There was no way in the world that either Atem or Yugi would be able to stand by while one of their few remaining friends was threatened.

"Eh", Rebecca said, realizing she had said one thing too much.

"Rebecca, if this is serious you should tell us", Atem said. "You should face no danger alone."

Rebecca smiled an uncomfortable smile and shifted in her chair. "I promised my attacker that I wouldn't tell anyone what happened. Let's just say it was an involuntary attack."

Atem raised an eyebrow suspiciously but didn't press on. "Okay", he said, "I'll rely on your judgment. Now, did the Fire Kraken say anything more?"

Rebecca thought a long while before answering. "Yes, he told me a bit about the Tomb-robber and Zorc and his priest. But you already told me about that, he didn't say much else, he seemed to find it hard to speak." She didn't think it would be wise to tell Atem and Yugi about the fact that the Kraken had told her that it was up to her to break the spiral they were in, she hadn't liked the tinge to the Kraken's exact choice of words and doubted that Yugi or Atem would.

"Hmm", Atem said and seemed to be lost in thought, Yugi watched his best friend carefully. Eventually he spoke. "Have you ever heard of the Dominion of the Beasts?"

"It sounds vaguely familiar", Rebecca said with a frown.

"It's unfortunate that I know that Sangan and Fire Kraken indeed both were creatures of the shadows and not the Dominion. See, the dominion is the place our Kas go to when we die, those help us out sometimes as they can cross from their world to ours without trouble. The Dark Magician Girl saved me and Yugi from drowning once. It would be tempting to say that they were simply from the Dominion and that we shouldn't worry, but they clearly are not. In fact, Fire Kraken was one of Shimon's creatures, once upon a time."

"The Dominion ..." Rebecca mused. "The monster sightings!"

Atem nodded. "Indeed, they all fled their world because it was being attacked by Leviathan and the Orichalcos." Atem shrugged. "They aided us in that battle and left, like they did ten thousand years ago. Just like the creatures of shadows they are linked to their respective cards, the difference is that beasts from the Dominion can choose to come when summoned, while shadow creatures have to come, whether they want or not. Though only when used by or against a Shadow wielder. At least that was until now."

"Can't we just let them all go to the Dominion? I mean, they seem to have it loads better there, besides, wouldn't a lot of the shadow powers disappear if that happened?" Rebecca wondered with a look in her eyes that neither Atem nor Yugi had ever seen before. It was sympathy Atem realized slightly surprised, never had he seen Rebecca being sympathetic before. "I mean, they don't seem to like it in there."

"They most likely don't. But Rebecca, what you are saying makes sense, if the beasts would disappear from the shadows the last thing to empower them would disappear and the shadows would seize to exist." As Atem spoke the words a bolt of lightening came down upon him, he knew how to rid the world of the shadows.

/_Atem, that's great!_/ Yugi said, carefully enthusiastic, he sensed the uncertainty that held Atem in its grip.

Atem shook his head. "So now I know how to rid this world of the shadows, a power so dark that it should not exist", Atem told both Yugi and Rebecca. "But I can't do it."

"Why not?" Yugi and Rebecca asked simultaneously.

"The shadow creatures are depending on the shadows, if they were to be removed from their 'prisons' for too long they'd fade away, seize to exist. I can't do that, these creatures have a will and a mind of their own, they were the most vital part of a humans soul. I can't vaporize them for something like this. We are talking about many thousand creatures who'd all be exterminated! As soon as they are captured they become depended on the shadows, didn't Fire Kraken tell you?" he added at last.

Rebecca thought for a while and then nodded. "Well, I said so, didn't I? Yes, he did."

/_Then we can't do that. Anyway, even if we'd rid this world of the shadows, that would do you little good_/ Yugi told Atem with a deep sigh.

Atem nodded, thinking about the future frightened him, though he'd never admit that.

"Problem, cause, solution", Rebecca said after the four of them sat silent for a while.

"Make creatures independent of shadows", a high-pitched voice squeaked and Yugi smiled at Dobby, the house-elf saw things very simple.

Rebecca, who hadn't noticed the house-elf despite the fact that she was sitting next to him jumped in surprise. "Who are you?"

"My name is Dobby", the house-elf said confident and gave Rebecca huge smile. "Dobby is a house-elf, mam."

Rebecca who had gotten over her surprise swiftly smiled back and held out a hand. "Hello Dobby, my name is Rebecca."

Too both Atem and Rebecca's surprise Dobby started crying. "Hogwarts is home of many good wizards and witches. So good to Dobby, so nice to Dobby."

"Dobby", Atem said calmly, "that's not something you should be grateful for, that something you should expect."

Dobby looked at Atem and tears made a wet trail on the elves face. It wasn't until now that Atem realized that Dobby was holding a sword in his hands, the very same sword that Yugi had driven through the door when it once again had reminded him off the day he most of all wanted to forget. Atem hadn't even realized that it had been removed from the door, he had assumed Yugi had done it while he had been distracted from the real world, which happened quite often. Clearly, Yugi had not.

"Dobby, why are you holding that sword?" Atem asked carefully.

Dobby suddenly stopped crying and looked at the heavy thing in his arms. "Dobby cleaned it for you, Pharaoh, sir, after Yugi, sir, put it in the door", Dobby said and Atem received a confused glance from Rebecca.

"Thank you, Dobby", Atem said, uncertain about what to say.

"It's a very beautiful sword, where did Pharaoh, sir, get it?" Then Dobby realized who he was talking to and seemed to become pale. "Dobby does not wish to pry, he's just ..." he started panicked.

Atem cut him off. "Curious, I know. You are probably the most curious being I've ever encountered, but it could get you into danger Dobby. Now please leave, the less you know the better Dobby." Atem knelt down so he could look the elf in the eyes. "I don't want you to die Dobby, but if someone finds out you know too much you will. Neither me nor Yugi wants to loose another friend, so hurry off."

The face of the elf light up in the same way as the landscape lightens when a lightening bolt strikes it. "Did Pharaoh, sir, just call Dobby a … a friend?" New tears started to gather in the large, round eyes."

"Yes, Dobby. You are a friend", Atem said and smiled a smile that Rebecca had never seen before. Never had she encountered the ancient being living in the Millennium puzzle this way, relaxed and with only people he cared about. It brought out a side in him that strongly reminded her of the fact that he, too, was human.

With a happy swirl and a loud 'crack' the elf left, leaving the sword on the table. Rebecca crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Atem. "A sword?" she asked. "Don't tell me the rumors were true?"

Atem shrugged. "Yugi lost his patience with the door. I can't blame him."

"Where did you get that thing from?" she wondered while she shook her head. "You know, there is a High Inquisitor running around looking for a reason to fire you. If these kind of things keep happening she'll have you out of here in no time!"

"She won't need the sword as an excuse to throw me and Yugi out. I already made sure that half the fifth years have PTSD and I have submitted her to a Shadow game. The only thing she needs to do an attempt to kick us out is courage, and she doesn't have that. As for the sword … I believe that's more up to Yugi to tell." With those words Atem drew back, leaving Yugi in control.

"This sword", Yugi said as if he'd never been gone and put a hand on the blade gently, "has a story which I do not know. I obtained it in Egypt. I believe I'll have to go further back than that though, let's start at the beginning. Sit down", he said and gestured towards the chair Rebecca had been sitting on until Dobby had startled her. Yugi sat down again too.

"Mokuba, Ryou and I, we didn't think. The same instant the killing curse had found its way into the spirit realm the tomb started collapsing. Lucius Malfoy just kept firing killing curses at us, way faster than any of us could react, then he disappeared. As the ceiling was coming down Mokuba grabbed Ryou's arm and dragged him out of the tomb. Ryou, just like me, had been frozen to the spot, Mokuba saved his life. I just stared at the dead people on the ground, people that only a minute ago had been my friends and family. I remember thinking that it suddenly had turned so quiet, it wasn't at all, but that's what it felt like."

Yugi was quiet a couple of seconds, lost in thoughts and Rebecca held her breath in horror.

"I would have allowed the tomb to kill me hadn't it been for Atem. I thought he was gone too, he had disappeared as soon as the door closed and I thought … I don't know what I thought. I guess I assumed that he was dead too, quite foolishly, Atem already was dead. Then I heard his voice in my head, like so many times before, it was weird since I already had accepted the fact that I'd never hear that again. 'Run' he yelled. I just obeyed, you do not argue with him when he sounds like that, I've never heard him so frightened before, I hope I never will again."

Yugi buried his face in his hands and swallowed. He wiped his face dry, he had never told anyone this before and it was hard, very hard.

"I got out and the first thing I see is Mokuba crying. He was the only one that cried at the time, I think he and Atem were the only ones who understood what had just happened. I didn't hear anything from Atem the remainder of the day, not the following few days either. He grieved, he grieved in the far corner of his soul room. Mokuba called the alarm central and Kaiba Corp, he was the only one able to function. Ryou just stared at the staircase leading down to the tomb the entire time, Ryou had been freed from the priest and the same day he lost all the people he cared about. I just sat down and stared at the blue sky, I had known that I'd be leaving that place with a loss, but I hadn't expected it to play out quite like that.

Ambulances arrived, police and I don't know what. I wasn't that attentive. The paramedics questioned me, they soon figured out that I was just fine although in heavy shock, Ryou was brought to the hospital, he had broken his arm, hit by a piece of the roof. When they forced him into the ambulance was the last time I saw him. Mokuba and I returned to the city together, the police asked us some questions and with a few swift lies from Mokuba's side the case was closed. Mokuba asked me whether I wanted to fly home with him or stay for the funeral of the Ishtars, since I was the person that knew them best. When he asked that I snapped back to life and told him that I would stay in Egypt a while.

I didn't go to their funerals, some of Ishizu's coworkers showed up, but since Ishizu had been quite secretive of her background and private life she had only been on an acquaintance level with them and none of them cried properly. They were buried, had I had a say in it they would have been cremated and scattered in the desert, Marik's been underground long enough, I don't think he wanted to spend eternity there. I suppose I can only blame myself. I disappeared the moment Mokuba's plane left, I just took what I had and ran off.

I started to ask around about man with white blonde hair and a black coat. I figured such a man would stand out and it didn't take long before I had bait. Or actually, I walked straight into a trap. Lucius had paid some tugs to 'take care' of anyone who asked after him. I hadn't even time to finish my description before the tug attacked, he attacked me with that very sword."

Yugi gave the sword on the table a nod.

"Had he just shot me I'd have been dead, I dunno why he choose such an old artifact to fight, but it don't really care. At that point I thought I was alone, I thought that I only had imagined Atem's voice in my head when he had told me to run but that day he appeared again and asked me if he could take care of the tug. He did, the tug was hospitalized with a few fingers less and I took the sword. I've never given either the sword nor the tug much more thought. I was far too busy to ask Atem what, why and how and once I was done with that I had forgotten about them."

"Few fingers less?" Rebecca asked with an expression that clearly showed her disbelieve.

"I wasn't attentive to whatever Atem did to the tugs, I was far too surprised by the fact that Atem was still around", Yugi said in a casual tone that did not suit his words. "I believe it was a way for him to relief his anger."

Rebecca just stared at Yugi, unsure about what to say, thus saying nothing. Yugi frowned as he saw the tears gather in Rebecca's eyes, tears the blonde wasn't aware of herself.

"Rebecca, I'm sorry. That probably sounded very wrong, it was a weird time those first few weeks and I can't recall them in any other way than how I just put them", Yugi said apologizing.

Rebecca shook her head and wiped her tears away. Yugi knew very well how much Rebecca hated to cry and ignored them tactfully. Rebecca spoke. "That just clashes with everything I've ever thought about you. I know that things have changed a lot since the first time we met, but I just can't comprehend all this. You shouldn't apologize for what happened then, at least I don't think you should."

Yugi gave Rebecca a careful smile. The worst had blown over, but it still was slightly awkward.

"Alright", Yugi said eventually with the tone of a person that had found the perfect question in an awkward silence. "Now we've told you about the sword. It's only fair you tell us something."

Rebecca frowned, but simply waited for Yugi to continue as the Japanese picked up the sword and put it under his bed. "In a few days the first Quidditch Match will be played between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Now tell me, what the hell is Quidditch?"

* * *

><p>A frosty November morning Yugi made his way towards the Quidditch pitch. Never, in all his years of school, had he seen such an empathy for a sport. It was simply weird. Rebecca hadn't been able to explain to him how the game worked. She had gotten Peter Lepard who had explained the sport to the two of them once he had gotten over the surprise that they didn't know it. It had become a surprising comfy afternoon, despite the rough start.<p>

Yugi didn't like the cold, he probably never would but he didn't dislike it as much as the former Pharaoh who plainly refused to be the one taking the cold. His opinion was that since he was dead anyway he should have the right to the few advantages of it and Yugi couldn't deny his friend that.

Most of the teachers were already there, not affected by the cold as much as Yugi and Atem. Yugi carefully slid down in the last remaining free seat next to a dark student Yugi knew to be Lee Jordan, a sixth year that was the partner in crime of the infamous Weasley twins. Lee Jordan said a quick 'hello' without really seeing who had come to sit next to him.

Yugi could hear the singing and he felt sorry for the red-head in his fifth year, that had been one of the exact reasons why Yugi had never liked sport, the constant bullying. He was surprised to hear Atem commenting that thought. /_Having to stand the bullying is a vital part of sport. If you're not capable enough to stand the taunting you're definitely not able to stand the pressure during a match. It's a test, if you fail it the team is better of with a different player. In addition to that you get an additional adrenaline rush because you just have to prove that they are wrong./_

Yugi decided not to comment that. He'd always known that Atem was far more of a sportsman than he was himself but this he hadn't seen coming. He got a rather funny mental image of Atem playing basketball in the attire Yugi had seen him wearing when back in the past.

/_Not basketball perhaps, but I played both handball and equestrian sports, in addition to that I practiced marathon running and archery._/ Atem gave the annoyed younger a smile, than turned his attention on the pitch. In a single file line they marched up the pitch and madam Hooch told the captains to shake hands. The hostility was nearly touchable, both the Gryffindor and Slytherin captain tried to kill the other teams by glaring, so did many of the other players. To the surprise of the entire public none of the fifth years did that same attempt.

"What's wrong with the fifth years?" Jordan started his commenting and Yugi finally realized what he was doing there. "They look tame like lambs. Where is the fire?"

Many approving yells came from every part of the stadium. Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Potter and the youngest Weasley on the pitch looked at the ground and Yugi closed his eyes. He knew very well where their fire had gone, they had left them round and about sixty years ago while suffering the horror of the concentration camps.

Atem who was standing in spirit-form next to Yugi closed his eyes and turned his face up towards the blue sky. Yugi knew that there was little he could say. Instead he looked for Rebecca, she stood out of the crowd, since she had refused to pick a side and had thus decided to wear a white scarf. Their gazes crossed a second and then both turned their attention back upon the pitch. Yugi didn't say anything as Madam Hooch blew the whistle and the balls were released. Atem was watching the game carefully while Yugi was watching Atem.

Despite himself Yugi couldn't help but laughing when Jordan started commenting for real. "And it's Johnson – Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me ..."

"JORDAN!" Professor McGonagall yelled furiously and now even Atem smirked.

"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest – and she's ducked Warrington, she's passed ..."

Yugi couldn't follow the game all too well, not that he really did an effort. Somewhere in the middle of the game Madam Hooch flew straight through Atem and looked at Yugi. "Beats card games, doesn't it?" she asked and laughed. Then she mused, "Though for the world I can't understand why the fifth years play so gentle." With that she flew away.

Yugi looked at Atem but the spirit just shrugged. There was nothing he knew that lived up to the 'card games' he had played, nothing, Quidditch wasn't even close.

Then, before Yugi was even aware of what was happening the game was over. A victory for Gryffindor, at least according to Jordan. What he did see coming was the Bludger. It hit Potter straight in the small of his back, throwing him of his broom and the boy hit the frozen ground, hard. Yugi watched the argument following with a passive interest that was only fitting for an observer. Then he slipped away before any of the teachers even had realized that there was an argument. He got as close to the fight as he could without being noticed and listened.

Draco Malfoy was doing his very best to piss Potter off, though his progress was slow. He hadn't found the right words just yet. It were the Weasley twins who were the first to fall for Malfoy's plan and did an attempt to attack the blonde. Their team-mates held them back. At last Malfoy said the words to make Potter snap and he released George, together they lunged for Malfoy. To everyone's surprise Harry stopped in the middle of his leap and dropped his fists. He shook his head and backed up. Whispers went through the crowd, but as George hit his target Harry's hesitation was forgotten by the crowd.

"Turns out that your actions during that devastating class led to the reduction of violence in this school", Yugi stated and looked at the spirit hoovering next to him. Atem frowned at Yugi's word but didn't react further, it was the kind of comment that Yugi wouldn't have been able to make before Lucius Malfoy made his dramatic debut.

"Mister Weasley, I think that's quite enough", Yugi said lowly and to everyone's surprise, including Yugi's, George Weasley stopped and turned around to face the much shorter person. It was a wonder that the red-head even had been able to hear him over the yells, even more so that he actually listened.

Madam Hooch threw Yugi a grateful look and took over from there while Yugi departed. Swiftly he left for his room, not feeling like talking to anyone. Half-way there he sighed, closed his eyes and turned around.

/_Yugi, you might not be a saint, but you still get damn well close to it_/ Atem remarked with a hint of a smile. Yugi hung his head and dragged his feet towards McGonagall's office. A couple of minutes later he was standing outside the office, his hand raised to knock but than he changed his mind. He had to keep a low profile if he still wanted to be able to pull some string here and there. Besides, he didn't really feel like interrupting an argument between McGonagall and Umbridge anyway so he turned around once again and left the hallway just in time to avoid running into a very satisfied Umbridge.

* * *

><p>Man I hated this chapter! Thank everything that is holy that it's over. I had worlds greatest of ideas for this chapter, but it would be far too funny (at least according to me) to fit this story. A lot of funny parts have sneaked its way into this story for this to be a dark story. Anyway, I found a better way to add some personal drama for the King of Games. If you want to know; I was planning to have Mai Valentine walk up the quidditch pitch during the game … but that image was far too funny in my head to fit the story. Man, that'd turn this entire story into a comedy.<p>

Next chapter, the simple but long anticipated shadow game for Umbridge, Yippie! I longed to write that chapter, especially since Hagrid will make his debut too!

Ekki Ekki Ekki Ekki P'tang Zoo Boing.  
>Cookies to everyone who got that, and an additional cookie to everyone who reviews.<p> 


	18. Umbridge's Mistake

Corroded rocks! I was at a concert this Friday. We were fifty persons, at max, which makes it quite the exclusive concert, but it was awesome!  
>Yesterday I taught a friend how to skii and there ain't much to say. Sure she fell a hundred times, but within an hour she knew how to do it! It's so damn easy. I'm going again tomorrow.<br>Just two more weeks of school and then a blissful week of freedom, it's just that these two weeks won't be pretty, wish me luck.

Alright, on to the story. The long awaited shadow game for Umbridge. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Monday morning Yugi made his way towards the Great Hall in an unusual good mood. The weekend had been surprisingly silent and peaceful. Rebecca had spent her time with Tracey, Dean and Peter, thus Yugi and Atem had pretty much been for themselves. He had expected to find the teachers lounge empty, as it was most days, since the other teachers tended to eat breakfast early, but today it wasn't.<p>

A gigantic man was standing in the lounge, his back towards Yugi. The man who was at least three times as tall as Yugi was making his way towards the Great Hall but when he heard Yugi he turned around. To Yugi's horror the man didn't have a face. A second later Yugi realized that the man did have a face, it was only covered with an untidy beard, hiding it.

"Who're you?" he asked Yugi.

"I'm Yugi Muto, the history teacher", Yugi said, feeling even smaller than he usually did. "Who are you?"

"Ah", the giant said and held out a hand. "The name is Rubeus Hagrid, teach care of magical creatures. You're the newbie?"

Yugi's entire arm disappeared into Hagrid's hand and for a moment he was afraid that his shoulder would shatter as they shook hands.

"I suppose so", Yugi said and smiled a bit. His instincts told him that this man was as harmless as a kitten, despite his appearance.

"Dumbledore told me about yeh", Hagrid grunted as they together started to walk towards the Great Hall. "Said yeh had quite some influence on the students way of thinkin'. He said ye changed thin's."

"Is Dumbledore aware of the fact that you are telling me this?" Yugi wondered, suppressing a smile.

The giant man got a slightly horrified look on his face and shook his head ashamed. "Ne, I shouldn't have told yeh tha", he said and did his best to sneak away through the door towards the Great Hall but Yugi put himself in front of Hagrid.

"Just tell me one thing. Did I change things in a good or a bad way. Dumbledore won't talk to me, he avoids me. I don't know why and frankly I don't care, in fact the only reason I noticed that he avoided me was that when I accidentally put half the fifth years in a state of hysteria he didn't react. I do my best, but I screw up a lot, so tell me, does he wish he never hired me or is he glad he did?"

Atem just stared at Yugi in surprise. Throughout the rant he had tried to protest but Yugi had completely ignored the spirit and continued to question the dark-haired man in front of him.

Hagrid just stared at the Japanese teacher and said, after a couple of seconds thinking: "Dumbledore knows what he does. He thought twice before hirin' yeh. You'll jus' have ter trust him. Jus' talk ter him."

Yugi sighed and nodded. "Sorry, it's been a though week. I shouldn't have reacted that way, it's nice to meet you."

Yugi turned away and walked into the Great Hall, his shoulder pulled up and his head held low, like he used to walk through school when Jonouchi and Honda still bullied him. That was such a long time ago now. Hagrid followed him and with what Yugi supposed was meant to be a gentle pat on the back he said: "Nice ter meet ye too, we all have 'ur bad days."

Yugi slid into his seat and couldn't help but smile when he saw the students reaction on the appearance of this giant called Rubeus Hagrid. The now quidditch banned Fred and George Weasley sprinted up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff table closely followed by Lee Jordan. They shook the mans hand with exclaims of delight and joy. Peter Lepard did the very same thing and threw Yugi a short greeting too as he turned to walk back to his seat. Despite the many excited and happy greetings Hagrid received Yugi couldn't help but notice that not all were happy about his return. He noticed a couple of Gryffindor girls shake their heads and some Slytherins and Hufflepuffs threw each other a gloomy look, some threw Hagrid right out frightened glances.

Yugi frowned and mused together with Atem over the mixed reception, then Atem pointed towards Umbridge. /_Look at her, she doesn't seem pleased._/

The fact was that Umbridge looked far from pleased, she looked repulsed. The conversation Yugi had had with madam Hooch before Umbridge's inspection came to his mind. /_You know_/ he started /_Hagrid is very, very large. Do you think he's, perhaps, a giant?_/

/_No, that's not possible. I don't know much about giants, but I thinks we'd recognize one. Perhaps he's part giant, that would explain why Umbridge is being so hostile_/ Atem said and kept looking at Umbridge intensely. He noticed that she kept throwing Hagrid glances and very time she caught herself throwing such a glance she resolutely turned away.

/_I wonder what happened to his face?_/ Yugi mused and looked thoughtfully at the part-giant.

/_You know Yugi, once upon a time that would have been the first thing you'd have asked_/ Atem remarked, receiving a very displeased glare from Yugi.

* * *

><p>Tuesday Harry made his way towards Hagrid's cabin, heavily muffled against the cold. He was very worried about what would happen if Hagrid pulled another stunt like the blast-ended screwts and that Umbridge would sack him. The chance that Umbridge would sack him was large enough as it was, it didn't have to improve.<p>

Hagrid appeared with half a dead cow over his shoulder as the students warily approached his cabin. "We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called out and gestured towards the forbidden forest with his head. "'Bit more sheltered. Anyway, they prefer the dark."

A murmur of worried voices appeared and disappeared as Hagrid convinced them that _they_ were trained. Carefully they followed him into the forest. After about ten minutes of walking they reached a place in the forest that was as dark as twilight. Hagrid dropped the cow on the ground and encouraged the students to step closer.

"Gather roun', gather roun'", he urged. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me."

None of the students was calmed down by that statement and kept peering around nervous as Hagrid started to shriek. After a couple of minutes a giant skeletal black horse with creepy white eyes and bat-like wings emerged from between the trees. It bowed it's head and started tearing at the flesh of the dead cow.

After a few seconds Ron whispered: "Why doesn't he call again?"

The class, with exception of Neville and a Slytherin boy were still looking around nervously.

"Oh, an' here comes another one!" Hagrid exclaimed happily. "Now ..."

Whatever Hagrid was about to say was interrupted by the two horses who raised their heads from the cow and started to walk to the right of the class, away from them. The thing that had called their attention was no one else but Professor Muto himself. The first one of the horses walked all the way towards the teacher with the tri-colored hair and sniffed at his shoulder. To everyone's great surprise Professor Muto patted the black being and turned his attention towards Hagrid. "Such magnificent creatures, what are they?"

"There ain't nothing there!" Malfoy sneered. "You're petting air!"

"So ye can see 'em, can't you, who else can?" Hagrid asked the class, ignoring Malfoy andunable to tear his gaze from the black horse that was currently resting it's dragonish head on the Professor's shoulder, seeming completely relaxed.

Harry, Neville and the Slytherin boy raised their hand.

"Yup, I knew you could Harry. They're Thestrals. Hermione gave a soft 'Oh' that told Harry that she knew all about them. Hagrid continued. "Hogwarts got a whole herd of 'em in here. Who knows ..."

"But they're really, really unlucky!" Parvati exclaimed, interrupting Hagrid. "They're supposed to bring all sort of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once ..."

Professor Muto raised an eyebrow at her statement, still petting the Thestral that was momentarily 'purring' under his hands. Hagrid started chuckling and interrupted Parvati in his turn. "No, no, no ..."

Harry didn't pay Hagrid much more attention and was watching Professor Muto instead who was whispering in the Thestrals ear as if they had been close friends their entire lives. He didn't seem to be the least afraid despite the pointy teeth and macabre white eyes.

"Right, who can tell me why some o' yeh can see 'em and some can't?" Hagrid asked and beamed when Hermione's hand shot in the air.

"The only people who can see Thestrals", she started and fell silent when she noticed Professor Muto's eyes on her, she swallowed and continued, "are people who have seen death."

"Oh", Professor Muto whispered and stopped petting. "I didn't know that." He dropped his hand and looked at the being before him. "No wonder people do not like you", he whispered in the Thestrals ear before it turned around and started to tear at the cow again together with three others.

"Hem, hem", a high-pitched and overall disliked voice said. When she received no reaction from Hagrid she repeated the sound, "hem, hem."

"Oh, hello", Hagrid said smiling when he discovered the source of the sound.

"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" she asked with a slow voice, as if talking to a complete retard, "telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson."

"Oh yeah, glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see – or, I dunno – can you? We're doing Thestrals today."

"I'm sorry?" Professor Umbridge said loudly with a tone Harry didn't like at all, "What did you say?"

One of the newly arrived Thestrals threw Umbridge a long glance before making its way over towards Professor Muto who treated this Thestral with just as much care as the previous one.

Hagrid looked confused a while. "Er, Thestrals … Big, winged horses." He flapped a bit with his arms.

Umbridge looked disapproving and took a note on her clipboard. Carefully she spelled what she wrote down out for everyone to hear. "Has … to … resort … to … crude … sign … language."

Hagrid looked flustered and Harry, who also was keeping an eye on the History teacher, saw that Professor Muto's gaze had narrowed into a glare that didn't promise much good. It was an attentive and passive glare that in less than a second could switch to dangerous and offensive.

"Well … anyway", Hagrid said, turning to the class, "what was I sayin'?"

"Appears … to … have … poor … short … term … memory", Umbridge muttered.

Hagrid bravely decided to ignore her and started telling about how the herd had started when Umbridge interrupted him. "Are you aware", Umbridge said loudly, "that the Ministry of Magic has classified Thestrals as 'dangerous'?"

"They don't seem very dangerous to me", a soft voice said and everyone looked at the short person to whom the voice belonged. "In fact, they are quite gentle, can you see them?" Professor Muto kept petting the rather intimidating horse but was staring Umbridge straight in the eyes. "Can you see the way they behave this very instant? How calm and relaxed? They seem to thrive here, in this place, in this company."

"Yugi Muto, what are you doing here?" she asked with a high-pitched voice and drew herself to her full length, which made her easily taller than Professor Muto.

Professor Muto didn't look impressed but his hostile expression vanished as he came to think of whatever he was doing there. "Eh, I was here to deliver a note to Tracey Davis", Professor Muto said, to Harry's surprise sounding shy. He moved towards the Slytherin girl and gave her a piece of parchment.

"Who's it from?" Davis asked and reached out to take the piece of paper but before she could take it, it flew out of Professor Muto's hand into Umbridge's outstretched, short fingers.

"That's what I like to know, it's highly unusual for teachers to walk into the forbidden forest to leave a student a note", Umbridge said and chuckled as she opened the folded piece of paper. "Now let's see. It reads:  
>'Dear Tracey, Your father and I left today. We wanted to say goodbye in person, but unfortunately that's not possible. Your grandma fell ill and we returned as soon as possible, it's nothing serious otherwise I wouldn't tell you like this, you know that, but it's because she wanted us to come.<br>I hope, I pray, that things stay the way they are. Considering circumstances you've been quite lucky by meeting some of the few persons that are free from prejudice and will stand by you no matter what. I admit that I was wrong, you are not better of alone and not everyone will condemn you for who and what you are. This is a lesson neither you nor me should have had to learn the way we did, but we did and little can change that. My idiocy almost got you and an innocent bystander hurt, so take my advice and stop listening to me and just do as your heart tells you.  
>With love<br>Mum'"

Everyone present was looking at Tracey either with wonder or petty, Dean moved closer to her and put a protective arm around her. Harry didn't understand anything of what Tracey's mother had written to her, but he couldn't understand how Umbridge had the heart to invade someone's secrets like that and expose them to the entire class.

"What did she mean?" Umbridge asked with a sugar sweet voice.

Harry wasn't the only one throwing Umbridge a hateful glare. He had never seen Dean so furious before, but they all stood silent, awaiting the outcome of this unexpected twist.

"You must understand, I am merely worried about you. We can only be friends if you are honest with me and I must know what your problem is to be able to help you. You wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, would you?" Umbridge carried on and Harry saw how uneasy the Slytherin girl was. Harry had been quite distant from Tracey even during the DA meetings, partly because Tracey was good at what she did and didn't need much help to succeed with what she tried, but mostly because she was a Slytherin. He still didn't trust her.

"I ..." Tracey started but her voice trailed off before her voice had even reached out.

"Excuse me dear, what did you say?" Umbridge wondered and smiled as she cocked her head.

Professor Muto still had a hand on the Thestral but wasn't petting anymore, he was listening attentively and Harry could see an emotion in those purple eyes he had never seen before. It wasn't anger, it was grief. It were the eyes of someone who wanted to see the good in the world and was proven that there were people without feelings of kindness.

"I ..." Tracey said louder this time but Dean stopped her by grabbing her arm. He turned his back towards Umbridge and looked Tracey straight in the eyes. "There is no need for you to tell her anything! This is not something she needs to know and she can't force you to say anything. This is nothing short of an assault! You should tell Dumbledore! She has no right to read our personal mail out loud in front of class!"

Then Tracey's eyes narrowed into a determination that Harry had never seen in the shy Slytherin's eyes before. She almost shoved Dean out of the way, took a step forward, raised her eyes and looked down on Umbridge. "I know that I don't have to tell her anything, but why would I hide it? Should I be ashamed of who I am? No! She can know, she can know that I neither fear her nor will be ashamed in front of her. If she think she can break me by trying to uncover all my secrets in front of the class she's wrong." Tracey answered Dean although she stayed focused on Umbridge and then she looked behind her at the students and gave them all a small smile before she turned back to Umbridge. "The reason mum thought I was better of alone is because of people like you", she said and took another step towards Umbridge, "the prejudice lays buried so deep in your core that there is no way to remove it. Instead we have to take your endless insults. Luckily for me there are people who are free from such prejudice, which was proven to me not that long ago. Don't you get it, Professor Umbridge? I'm a werewolf."

Harry's jaw dropped and his wasn't the only one. Several students took a step backwards in shock and several meaningful glances were exchanged. Harry, Ron and Hermione also exchanged such a meaningful glance.

"How … that's … No! Dumbledore has reached the bottom! How could he allow such a dangerous creature in this already hopeless school! You filthy half-breed!" Umbridge screamed in terror. She raised her wand, her hand shaking.

Dean quickly went to stand next to Tracey. "Don't call her that! She's the nicest person I've ever met!"

Hagrid and all the students were far too surprised or confused to be able to foresee what would come next. Umbridge's hand steadied. "Mr Thomas, detention, now get back. Such a foul creature will not be allowed in Hogwarts!" Before Dean even had the time to step back Umbridge threw her curse. "_Reducto!_"

Hermione screamed in horror and Harry was panting heavily in shock. What kind of person would use such a curse on a human being?

The curse didn't hit its target. Every student present watched as no one less than Professor Muto shoved Dean and Tracey out of the way. The curse hit the puzzle around the teachers neck and rebounded in the approximate direction of Umbridge who with a loud yelp jumped aside and the curse missed her, demolishing a tree.

"Are you two alright?" Professor Muto asked the two teens now laying on the ground of the forest. Dean and Tracey got to their feet and it was visible to anyone that Tracey was I shock. Tears of fear were running down her face and Dean hugged her tight, comforting her. "It's okay", he whispered, "it's okay." It was just as much an answer on Professor Muto's question as words meant to soothe.

Too Harry's surprise Professor Muto's eyes flared crimson and the look of grief had been replaced with disgust, it was a change so quick and unexpected that it was as if Professor Muto suddenly was someone else. Though Harry supposed that someone with a history like that of Professor Muto had to be a multilateral person, but those eyes … Everything seemed to have changed, not only Professor Muto's eyes, but his posture and attitude too, his entire presence.

"Dolores Jane Umbridge", he spoke and he sounded just like he had when Umbridge had inspected his class. Harry shuddered and he wasn't the only one. Professor Muto seemed to be unaware of the students unease and just carried on. "Do you dare to play a game with me?"

"A game?" she asked.

Murmur's erupted among the students.

"A game again?" Hermione wondered, "last time ..."

"Ssht!" Ron said and put a finger over his lips, "I know what you are going to say, Hermione, but I don't care. I don't care what happens to Umbridge! She tried to kill a student, she tried to kill Tracey! I don't care that Professor Muto said that he couldn't control the powers of the Shadows. Umbridge deserves to rot in azkaban for the rest of her life for what she did and the Ministry isn't going to send her! The only one who is able to stand up to her is Professor Muto since he doesn't seem to have anything left to loose, who cares where his power came from!"

Harry had never heard Ron talk to Hermione like that before and he and Hermione gawked at Ron. After a second or so Harry nodded. What Ron said was right, to this point Professor Muto had only done what was best for them, though his methods might not always have been the most honorable. Harry laughed a bit at himself. What was honorable anyway?

Hermione shook her head but didn't argue further. Instead she walked towards Tracey and Dean to check upon them.

"NO! No more games!" Umbridge said, almost pleading.

Professor Muto ignored her and continued. "Let me introduce you to some friends of mine. Minoan, Equeste and eh … let's call him Horseman."

The students watched as out of nowhere three creatures appeared. The Thestrals were watching them closely but didn't seem to be bothered by them. The first creature Harry saw was a centaur, when he looked closer he saw that what he saw was no centaur at all. He had the body of a horse and the torso of a bodybuilder, but the rest was simply not the way centaurs were. He had a marsh-brown pelt and his human torso was pink, he had a beard, blue nails and puny red eyes. Above his ears were two giant red horns and in his right hand he held a giant labrys, a double-bladed ax.

The next creature to appear looked much the same, only had the head of a bull and was dressed in armor, his tail lighter and the shaft of his ax shorter.

The third stood out most, the centaur form was still there, but he had gigantic wings, robotic wings. He, or it, Harry wasn't quite sure, was dressed as if he had participated in a sci-fi movie. His armor was blue and so were his wings, his hair was long and dark.

Neither of the three creatures looked very friendly.

The students stumbled out of their way, two or three of the Thestrals went to examine the newcomers but decided they weren't very interesting and that they were tired of all the drama. They walked away, back into the darkest parts of the forest.

"This game is quite simple", Professor Muto said, not reacting to the commotion the arrival of his three friends had caused, "my friends can't stay around. The centaurs would be displeased, very displeased. I'll lead Horseman out of the forest, that way." He pointed away from the school, deeper into the forest. He walked towards the one with the short ax and bull-head and Harry could swear Horseman smiled as the short Japanese put himself next to the giant centaur-like creature.

"But …"

"Isn't that what you just told me? Didn't you want to remove 'half-breeds' from the school. Minoan … " Professor Muto pointed towards the one with the beard. " … will follow you away from the school ground, he's not very patient though, so I'd hurry. Just to make it fun we'll make it a game. The first one to lead my friends out of the school grounds wins, it'll be a race. Simple, ain't it? But you and I, Umbridge, we're just two of us, and I have a third friend who needs to get out before the centaurs get pissed." Suddenly Professor Muto turned towards the class, his eyes took in each and every face and at last his eyes stopped at Tracey. "Miss Davis, would you help me?"

Dean looked troubled and Tracey afraid, but she got to her feet and walked towards Professor Muto. No one did an attempt to stop her.

"Can I come too?" someone asked from the side-lines. Harry saw that Professor Muto was slightly taken aback by the question but when he saw who had asked he smiled and nodded. "I think it's fine."

"Hagrid, you can come with us, at least, if Equeste is alright with that", Tracey said and smiled. Equeste gave a kind of nod at Hagrid and looked down at Tracey gratefully.

"We should be right back", Professor Muto said turning to the class, "just wait here. There is one more rule, no magic, that's it."

"Excuse me", Umbridge said affronted, "what makes you think that I'll lead this horrible creature out of the forest? Let alone compete with you."

The amused smile disappeared from Professor Muto's face and his crimson glare indulged fear in everyone present, most of all Umbridge, who was the target of the glare.

"Do you think you have a choice in the matter? Most of all I'd like to strip your soul from its body and send both to them to separate parts of hell, but that is not something I'd do in front of these students. I could report to Dumbledore or the Ministry about what you did, but that wouldn't lead us anywhere as Dumbledore is believed to be insane and Fudge would rather close his eyes to the truth, so instead we'll play a game. If you win me and everyone else here will forget about what you did, otherwise I'll have you send to a place worse than hell at your defeat, away from more sensitive eyes." Professor Muto's voice was low but there was an undertone in it that could kill. It sounded nothing like he had ever sounded in class, his voice was simply different. "If you refuse to play this game I believe I'll have to force you. Now let's go, the game begins now."

Tracey shook the chill of her and started to walk towards the border of the school grounds followed by Hagrid and Equeste. They had barely gone ten meters and Tracey was already running after them. When they had almost disappeared from sight Equeste stopped and had a short exchange of words with Hagrid who lifted Tracey and put her on Equeste. Tracey's laugh, still sounding slightly shaken, echoed through the forest.

Professor Muto and Umbridge were still standing in the clearing. "I just want to make this clear to you. They are part of the race, not of the game. I'd start moving, Minoan is not very patient." Horseman and Professor Muto started to walk away. "Remember, no magic."

Within a couple of seconds the odd pair had disappeared out of sight too. The students had gathered closer to each other. Parvati had an arm around Lavender, both were shaking. Hermione was standing next to Dean who didn't seem to be happy about the fact that Tracey had been taken by a creature which Harry assumed had to be one of the shadow creatures, though for some reason Harry was sure that Tracey and Hagrid would be fine. Ron had sat down, quite pale in the face though with a determinate look in his eyes. Harry knew that Ron was hoping for Umbridge's loss, he himself wasn't so sure. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had also sat down, Malfoy was white as a corpse. Seamus also went to stand by Dean. No one was talking yet, they were all highly aware of Minoan and Umbridge.

Minoan was standing in between the students and the hated High Inquisitor. He took a step towards the pink-clad woman and made an impatient sound.

Umbridge quickly took some steps back and tripped over the bones of the cow that Hagrid had given the Thestrals. "Don't come any closer, you filthy half-breed! Just leave! Do you know who I am?"

Minoan didn't react to Umbridge's words and just took some more steps toward her, even less patient. Harry was looking at the situation with a mixture of disbelieve and wonder. He had to admit that Professor Muto had designed this game quite well, he had thrown Umbridge's biggest fears in her face and craved from her to work with them. The only outcome was for her to cheat, Harry knew that and he was quite sure that Professor Muto knew it too.

As Harry had foreseen Umbridge raised her wand. "Step back you rotten creature!"

"Taken, tortured, locked away and eternally dark", Minoan said and put the ax over his shoulder, "never rotten, always faithful."

That was the last drop. "_Petrificus totalus!_" The curse hit Minoan straight in the chest and the being disappeared in tin air, vaporized into shadows. A sound of clapping hands appeared from behind the trees, it was as if the clapping person took a moment between every time he brought his hands together. It was a mystical sound making them all uncomfortable.

Every eye was staring towards the source of the sound. Professor Muto stepped out from between the trees, clapping his hands slowly. He had his gaze fixed upon Umbridge. He was alone and his voice was colder than ice. "Minoan can't be effected by magic, though I thought I made clear, no magic, I suppose not. I've warned you before on the effect of cheating and this time no one will stop me from punishing you. Last time you were lucky and your crime not that bad, now you've crossed a line only a few persons have crossed before, none of them got away unpunished and otherwise they'll be punished soon. I'll have no mercy on you, I'm done having mercy. What's going to happen now is a Penalty Game, a game in which you will be driven to the border of madness, there you will be thrown over that border, retrieved nearly immediately and you'll start your journey to become a better person, at least that's the thought. But as I stated; I'm done having mercy, it will not be me who will retrieve you from insanity. Penalty game!"

A horrible screaming came from Umbridge and Professor Muto watched her, seemingly free from emotion. The person staring down on Umbridge as she was wriggling on the ground while screaming in fear simply couldn't be the same person as the one who shyly had given Tracey the note from her mother. For a second the thought that tracey was lucky entered Harry's mind. The commotion this action would cause would remove the spotlights from Tracey's uncovered identity. Then he thought of how Umbridge had done an attempt to kill the Slytherin girl and all the petty he had felt for the toad-like woman that he had felt when he saw her expression of terror was gone with the wind.

Parvati was now crying for real, and she wasn't the only one seeking comfort at others. "This must be the final border", Parvati said and sobbed, "How can any of us take any more?"

Harry wondered what she meant, she had also stated something he didn't really get in the Hog's Head but this time, too, he felt like he agreed. His eyes fell upon Ron, who was one of the few still watching Umbridge. He had a grim expression on his face that Harry didn't like at all. His friend looked like he was getting use to these kind of things and that wasn't something Harry wished upon the best friend he had.

Except for Umbridge's screaming and Parvati's crying it was silent. To everyone's surprise it was Professor Muto who spoke and Harry noticed that he had retrieved his amethyst eyes and regular voice. "Come on", he said and walked towards the students, "this class is over." He helped Parvati to her feet. "Are you okay?"

Parvati nodded. "I'm just tired, very tired."

"I understand", Professor Muto said and for some reason Harry didn't doubt that he was telling the truth.

Students helped their friends to their feet and started to make their way towards the castle as if they were a funeral procession.

"Professor, what about Tracey?" Dean asked and looked into the forest.

"Hagrid will bring her back, they'll be here around dinner. Don't worry about her, she showed Equeste a respect that he's not used to, I'm sure they're having a good time, way better than us anyway", Yugi assured him and gave the dark boy a smile. "You already knew about Tracey, didn't you?"

Dean nodded.

"I'm proud of you, for what it's worth. Rebecca knew too, right?"

Dean nodded once again.

"Yeah, she told me something had happened, but not what. She said that she had promised to keep silent."

"I thought she had told you", Dean said surprised, "I thought she told you everything. She speaks highly of you, she said appearance could be deceiving." Dean looked behind him, towards were Umbridge was lying, although they were already too far away to even hear her scream.

"She doesn't tell me everything, a lot, far more than most people realize even, but not the things she promised to keep secret. Rebecca and I have both gone through enough to know the importance of true loyalty, don't doubt Rebecca", Yugi said with a voice that sounded just like Harry felt, drained from all strength.

Harry didn't intend to listen in, but he was walking just behind them and couldn't really help it.

"What about Professor Umbridge?" Hermione wondered and threw Harry a hasty glance, "what's going to happen to her now?"

Professor Muto shrugged and started to walk slower, which parted Ron, Hermione, Dean, Harry and himself from the rest of the group. "I don't know."

"What did you do to her?" Hermione pressed on.

Professor Muto actually smiled. "She's facing herself. She is seeing her own true from and she doesn't seem to like it." The smile vaporized. "What happens now depends on herself. She has the opportunity to learn from what she sees, if she doesn't learn this will simply have been a horrible punishment to her, if she does it will have been one of the most important turnpikes in her life."

The four Gryffindors frowned, each lost in thoughts. Eventually Ron spoke: "What's a turnpike?"

Hermione and Dean laughed despite themselves and the four of them caught up with the group of students in funeral mood. When Harry looked behind himself he saw Professor Muto standing still. He was facing the forest and wasn't aware that he was being observed.

"We're lost souls in a lost world and all we do is make it worse", the Professor sighed and looked up at the sun. In the sunlight a single tear glistened.

* * *

><p>I am listening to Sound the Buggle by Bryan Adams, that's a way to get you in the mood for this chapter.<p>

Minoan, Horseman and Equeste are real monsters, you can look em up if you want.

I hope and pray that you enjoyed Umbridge's shadow game. Don't worry though, she isn't out of the picture yet. Really, with a chapter like this I don't think I should even ask for reviews, I should be receiving them already!


	19. Christmas Sorrow

So wish me luck, Wednesday is horror movie night. I've brief experience with The Ring which was a disaster altogether, six months before I had gotten over it. Wednesday it'll be the Grudge. I've already read the plot of 1 and 2 so I spoiled the entire movie but I don't care, that's the only way they can make me see it.

Anyway, apparently some of us have already seen the movie and has the tendency to laugh throughout the entire movie, so … I'll be sitting next to him.

Enjoy the chapter, I hope I'll catch you with surprise.

* * *

><p>"What happened to Professor Umbridge?" Professor McGonagall asked them furiously that evening.<p>

About an hour after dinner Hagrid had carried Umbridge into the castle, the still screaming woman had been send to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey tried to remove the illusions without any success. The students had cheered at the news without even trying to hide their joy. It had made Filch angry, really angry, but no one even cared.

Harry could have sworn that even many of the teachers were more concerned about the fact that something like that happened than about Umbridge herself.

Now, not much later, everyone who had been present at the class where Umbridge had freaked out had been gathered in the great hall, Hagrid too. Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore where the ones leading the interrogation.

The entire hall remained silent and they all stared at the ground. Enraged Professor McGonagall repeated her question. Still no one spoke.

"Doesn't any of you care that a human being is being tortured without any way of us to undo it?" Professor McGonagall cried out when she completely lost her temper, "What's wrong with you?"

Everyone was still staring at the ground, including Harry, Hermione and Ron but when someone in the crowd of gathered students spoke all the rest of them stared at that person instead.

"Umbridge got what she deserved", Dean said and looked Professor McGonagall straight in the eyes, "She's done many terrible things but this time she crossed a line. She should have been submitted to worse."  
>Several students nodded in approval.<br>"She'll probably be just fine", Dean added, "I'm sure she'll be back to teaching in the morning."

"Mr. Thomas, you seem awfully sure of that. Could you please enlighten us all on how you know that", Professor Snape said coldly.

No matter how brave Dean had been the last few days, not even he could stand up to the chilly tones of Snape's voice. Theodore Nott at the other hand could. "Professor, not one of us is going to tell what happened there today. I believe I can safely state that there is a silent agreement among all of us. Umbridge got what she deserved, what she did, who punished her and how to make it stop will forever be kept silent about. I'm sure even Umbridge is in on this silent agreement, for her own benefit." With those words Nott left the room and several of the other students, Slytherins and Gryffindors alike, threw McGonagall and Snape a gloomy and slightly sad look before turning and leaving too.

Professor McGonagall made a noise in protest but Dumbledore put a hand on her shoulder. "Let them go Minerva, all we can do is hope Dean is right, I believe I know who to talk to anyway."

Harry took that as a sign of dismissal and gloomy as all the rest he, Hermione and Ron left to catch a good nights sleep.

* * *

><p>Yugi was summoned to the headmasters office the day after.<p>

As Dean had predicted Umbridge had recovered towards the morning hours and claimed she had no memory of what had happened. Yugi knew that it was a lie and Umbridge did her very best to keep away from him. Yugi was now almost sure that Umbridge wouldn't dare to sack him, though he wasn't quite glad about the way it had happened.

As Atem had thought Umbridge didn't change at all, she was jumpy and slightly paranoid, but she was just as wicked and power-hungry as ever before. /_She's blackened to the core, it is not possible to remove her malice without killing her_/ Atem told Yugi when the latter had expressed his disappointment on the outcome of the shadow game.

With dragging steps Yugi made his way up the stairs towards Dumbledore's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in", Dumbledore said and Yugi slowly opened the door with one hand. He took some feeble steps into the office.

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, writing something down in a little blue book. "Ah, Yugi, come in."

Yugi went even further inside. "You summoned me. May I ask why?"

"You know, you speak English much better now than you did when we met the first time. Did you use magical means to remove your accent and evolve your vocabulary to beyond normal standards or are you simply that talented with languages?" Dumbledore asked and Yugi raised his caution slightly more. Dumbledore closed the little blue book and stood up to put it back on its shelf, then he returned to his chair.

"A gift from a good Samaritan, a language potion that does wear off in around ten years. Quite useful, I have little skill with language", Yugi answered truthfully, "However that is no answer to my question."

"Is there a need for you to be so distrusting towards me?" Dumbledore asked and Yugi noticed how much different this man was in the place he called home than outside the school. The old warlock was far more relaxed here than he had been in Yugi's room at the Leaky Cauldron.

"I distrust people in general, why would I make an exception for anyone. It wouldn't be fair, don't you agree?" Yugi said, having decided that he was going to answer every question with a question himself until Dumbledore decided to start speaking business.

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed it wouldn't be fair." There hung a heavy silence in the room a couple of minutes and eventually a grim look appeared on Dumbledore's face. "I believe you know why I summoned you."

"Do I?" Yugi said and raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms and leaned slightly backwards. A pose that no one else could do the way the Pharaoh did, but even Yugi could seem intimidating that way after a whole lot of practice and patience.

Dumbledore didn't seem to be affected in the least by the younger's hostile appearance. "Yes, I'm sure you do. Are you, by any means, responsible for what happened to Dolores yesterday?"

Yugi remained silent, not willing to lie and concentrating on Dumbledore's eyes who were staring straight into his. Atem had drawn himself into his soul-room so he wouldn't distract Yugi but had still been listening. Yugi was surprised to hear the spirit speak from his soul, something that in itself wasn't so unusual, it was who the words were directed to which surprised Yugi.

/_I warn you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, do not attempt to invade my partners mind_/

Yugi, who hadn't noticed the invasion at all took Dumbledore's startled look as confirmation of Atem's words and his eyes narrowed.

/_As you are in the corridor that divides our mind, and most importantly souls, you haven't come to far yet. Turn around otherwise I'll draw you into the labyrinth my soul once was and leave you there to find your way out yourself. I must tell you, my traps are hard to avoid, the last person invading our mind would have been trapped forever hadn't it been for Yugi's kind heart. The kind of heart he doesn't posses any longer, so don't expect help from him. I've warned you, I'm a far better Occlument than you are a Legilimist. The shadows are not merciful on invaders_/

Dumbledore took some surprised steps backwards. "Yes, I should have known. You felt dark the moment I met you. Dark and protective, a dangerous combination. All I care about is the students well-being."

/_Please Yugi, can I take over?_/ Atem asked the still somewhat confused Yugi gently. Yugi didn't answer but just withdrew to his soul-room to ponder of what Atem just had said. Atem might not have noticed it but his words had troubled Yugi slightly.

"Communicating like this is more pleasant, isn't it? Of course, you've never seen the labyrinth", Atem said with a faint smile that disappeared nearly at once. "It was me, and not Yugi, who was responsible for what happened to Dolores Jane Umbridge. I will not say I regret it, did anyone tell you what happened?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "The students wouldn't speak a word. They too said that Dolores got what she deserved which makes me curious on what happened. I want to know if injustice is done to my students." Dumbledore sounded calm and Atem knew that this could continue for quite a while if he didn't end the conversation.

"Umbridge is fine now, she could tell you if she had wanted to, but she chose not to. I submitted her to a test and I am afraid she failed it. Once it was my job to punish those with a weak heart, before I retrieved my memories, many have suffered punishments alike that of Umbridge. What she did however is one of the worst things I've ever seen and I must say, I've seen a lot. There is little else to be said, if you want to get rid of me just tell me and I'll take my leave", Atem said and took some steps backwards, "though I can't promise the same for Yugi, after all it's his life", the spirit added. After that he turned around briskly and walked out of the room.

He stopped outside the room with his hand still on the knob. He looked over his shoulder and met Dumbledore's gaze. Dumbledore watched the young man leave without a word and was slightly taken aback when the other spoke: "For the record, I might have screwed up once, but I, too, have the students best interest in mind. You should remember that I even have personal ties among them and I'm not going to stand by as the students are being slaughtered one by one. I can't be Schindler but I can be the difference on the scale."

Atem closed the door behind him, leaving a deeply touched Dumbledore behind.

"What was that all about?" Armando Dippet asked from his portrait and Dumbledore turned around to face his predecessor, "What happened? Who is that child?"

"He's no child, Armando, in fact he's the oldest person I know. Old an tortured", Dumbledore whispered and had the attention of all the portraits.

"Please, Albus, he's just a child", Eoessa Sakndenberg said and looked at the headmaster with a worried frown.

"He's no child Eoessa. The person you just saw is a man with incredible power. He knows that and yet he wants to do good, who am I to question his methods?" Dumbledore wondered. "He admits his mistakes and flaws and my belief is that he's suffering far more than he lets anyone know. I do not know his history, but it appears sad."

"And yet you trust him?" Dippet questioned skeptical.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, I do not and he knows it, he accepts it. He's use to people not trusting, to people hating him. Especially in our world that is understandable, we fear beings like him, those that take control over us like he can do to Yugi. The relation between that old spirit and the young man to who that body belongs is one I've never seen before. It brings me hope", Dumbledore confessed.

"You should know more before letting such a being in this school!" Armando Dippet said upset.

"I know I took a risk. I underestimated his power and I know nothing about his history, he is not willing to share it, neither do I know why he possessed Yugi or if their mere presence could call forth threats which I can not deal with, but what I do no is that he is on our side in this war, he might have unique techniques but I believe he does want what's best for the students. A childhood friend of him is a fourth year student."

"He must be a very powerful wizard for you to take such a risk just to win a war. The outcome is already decided, why do you need him?" Dippet asked in an attempt to provoke Dumbledore to tell as much as possible.

"I don't think any prophecy took him into account. He's no wizard, the power he controls is older than ours and far darker, it has a will of its own. Lucius Malfoy made the two of them suffer great losses and changed the course of destiny when doing so", Dumbledore explained to his predecessor.

"No wizard? Yet he is here?" Phineas Nigellus Black burst out, "what does he do here?"

"He teaches History, he's left quite the impact", Dumbledore said calmly.

"You let a muggle teach our history?" Phineas asked horrified.

"No, I let him teach his History, or muggle history, I'm quite sure that the spirit could teach much more history than anyone else could", Dumbledore replied, still calm.

"But why?" Phineas Black didn't seem to be able to say anything but that anymore.

"Because the muggles have a history unexplored by many wizards and from their history, too, there is lots to learn. A war much in the style of the one that is about to break out has already happened in the muggle world and young Yugi teaches them about that war. A war that contains horror beyond my imagination. Minerva tipped me on a book about a young girl who did not survive the war just because she was a Jew. They hid behind a bookcase for several years only to be betrayed and later killed."

Dippet sighed. "Than if he is no wizard, what is he, beside from an old spirit possessing a young mans body?"

"I do not know the true nature of his power, but it is dark, very dark. A servant of Tom has already tried to rid the world of this power but didn't succeed, instead he awoke the rage of the odd pair. A rage that will be beneficial to us in the coming war."

* * *

><p>December and the Christmas feast arrived without any more drama. No one ever learned about Yugi's part in what happened to Umbridge and Umbridge herself hadn't changed a bit. The evening of the Christmas feast everyone was in a good mood, including Yugi.<p>

Rebecca would be going home the day after and Yugi had been invited too. Together they'd fly to America and spend the holidays there. Yugi was looking forward to it, but he was nervous. Rebecca was the first one of his friends who he'd seen in four years and the thought of meeting his grandpa's best friend again was scaring, not because Arthur Hawkins was so scary, but more because Yugi was ashamed.

Though all those thoughts and feelings were whisked away for the feast and Yugi had to say that Christmas in the magical world was something truly extraordinary. Twelve huge trees were put in the Great hall and from the magical ceiling snow was falling. There were decorations everywhere and both Yugi and Rebecca stared their eyes out, to Peter's and Atem's amusement. Peter and Rebecca were together more and more often and they were on occasion also with Dean and Tracey.

The fact that Tracey was a werewolf had spread through the school like wildfire and no one knew whom told whom to begin with. As expected many of the muggle-borns reacted without much drama while several pure-blood wizards refused to even come close to her with a whole scene. Things didn't get easier for Tracey, several of the girls who she shared a dorm with refused to sleep in the same room any longer and Tracey willingly moved out despite Dumbledore's assurance that no such thing was necessary. Yugi wasn't quite sure where the Slytherin slept now, but she seemed a lot happier. It was a weird thing to behold. Tracey walked through the hallways smiling, whistling and laughing while she got death threats from parents, hateful glances from students and had been thrown out from Umbridge's classes.

Umbridge had plainly refused to teach 'something that wasn't human'. The fifth years were getting more and more rebellious and everyone who was the least supportive of Tracey had stood up and left, only some Slytherins had stayed. Umbridge was starting to notice how powerless she truly was and out of desperation her punishments became more and more cruel.

Tracey was now with Professor Snape during the times she normally had Defense Against the Dark Arts and he taught her instead. Tracey never told anyone about the lessons but there was no doubt, Professor Snape was a good, if somewhat impatient, teacher on the subject. The result was that Harry and Tracey were teaching the DA together as Tracey had learned a whole bunch of tricks none of them could even have imagined. The attitude towards her had become much more friendly now that everyone in the DA knew what she was and weren't afraid that she'd betray them anymore.

All this information Yugi received from Rebecca who told him nearly everything, she was his eyes and ears in the school and Yugi told Rebecca what was going on among the teachers, something which on occasion had saved the DA from being exposed, unbeknownst to the members of it. And that was exactly how Yugi liked it, working from the dark without anyone knowing it.

The chatter in the Great Hall was loud and the mood high. People laughed and joked and Yugi caught Dumbledore looking at the students with a warm affection. Yugi couldn't help but sigh. /_I'm quite sure our teachers never looked at us like that_/ Yugi said and Atem didn't have to ask who 'us' was. The pharaoh merely chuckled.

When Yugi's eyes fell upon the Slytherin table he saw something he didn't like. Tracey was sitting alone at the far end, she smiled an odd smile that was neither sad nor happy but thoughtful. That exact moment one voice raised above the others. "Hey, Tracey, come sit with us!" Seamus Finnigan yelled and both he and Dean waved their hands over their head and Neville laughed out loud.

"Yeah", Lee Jordan added, "no sour faces at the Christmas feast! Stop sulking and join us, you're welcome!"

Even Yugi could see that she turned bright red despite the fact that he was sitting across the room. She looked down and did as if she hadn't heard them despite the fact that the entire hall had.

Yugi recognized the smile that appeared on Rebecca's face and when she leaned closer to Peter and had a short exchange of words with him they both stood up swiftly. Yugi leaned backwards and crossed his arms with an amused smile on his face. A smile that neither madam Hooch nor Snape on either sides of him missed and they too waited for whatever would happen.

Peter and Rebecca silently made their way towards Tracey who hadn't noticed that the entire hall had fallen silent, waiting for Rebecca and Peter's move. When Tracey noticed that everything had fallen silent and looked up the two Ravenclaws started to run. Tracey had just time to cry out: "Rebecca! No!" before the said girl and partner in crime reached Tracey. Both of them started to tickle the helpless Slytherin until she literally slid down from the bench in an attempt to get away from her attackers. That seemed to have been their goal for Peter and Rebecca took an arm each and literally dragged Tracey over the floor towards the Gryffindor table. Tracey did an attempt to stand up several times but Rebecca would just start tickling her again until the tears were streaming down her face and she was crying out for them to stop.

They were halfway across the Great Hall when Dean interfered. He stood up, walked towards the trio and put one hand around the neck of both the Ravenclaws. "That's it you little devils, leave my girlfriend alone." He gave them a little shake, it could have looked vicious hadn't it been for the laughter that Peter and Rebecca were both trying to hold back.

Yugi threw Umbridge a hasty glance, the pink clad woman was looking away from the four in the middle of the hall briskly. He knew that if Umbridge had a say every werewolf would be round up and killed on the spot, including Tracey. It was a scary thought that someone gaining authority in the school had such a vision. Atem sighed in agreement where he was standing next to Yugi but smiled when he returned his attention on Dean, Tracey, Peter and Rebecca.

"So", Dean said with a smile, "you want to give them some sort of payback?" He cocked his head and looked at Tracey who shook her head. "No, I don't think ..."

Tracey fell silent and with that all sound in the Great Hall disappeared, Atem closed his eyes. He felt … something. Whatever it was he felt it wasn't good. There was something in the silence that foresaw something that couldn't be described in any other way but horrible. It was a sort of anticipation and everyone prayed silently that this silence wasn't for them. This wasn't the silent minute after a crash, this was the silent moment before the crash.

An owl as black as the night soared into the Great Hall and gave a screech that spoke of dead and despair. It flew circles around the room and Dean let go of Peter and Rebecca. Then it flew lower, lower, lower and lower until it landed at last. It landed on the Ravenclaw table on the spot where Peter had sat only a minute ago. Peter and Rebecca exchanged a glance that spoke of sheer terror. Yugi stood up without noticing it himself. Together the two fourth years started to walk towards their seats and Dean put an arm around Tracey as the couple slowly followed the two terrified Ravenclaws while keeping some distance. Every eye in the room was upon them.

Peter reached his seat and gave the scared Rebecca an unconvincing smile. In that moment Yugi knew that there was something that everyone missed but what he and Rebecca knew. This letter wasn't for Peter, they both knew it. With shaking hands Peter loosened the letter and looked at it while turning it. Yugi realized what was wrong not due to his eyes but due to his ears. The note sounded wrong, it wasn't parchment but original paper. It was square and small and it was nothing short of a wonder that it had survived the trip.

"It … it's for you", Peter stuttered and gave Rebecca the tiny envelope.

Rebecca took it from him and opened it, all the time staring into Peter's eyes. Inside the envelope their was a card and for a moment Yugi was sure that it was a Christmas card, a very small, very white Christmas card. He placed both hands on the table and leaned forward, he barely noticed that madam Hooch put a hand on his arm.

When Rebecca had gathered the courage to look down she did so very slowly and stared, she just stared at the card while every soul in the Great Hall was waiting for her reaction. Yugi didn't know if the tension in the room increased or decreased when Rebecca took a step forwards, staring at the card all the time, she was pale as if she'd seen a ghost.

She took more slow steps forward and eventually it became clear who she was heading for as she came closer and closer to the teachers table, yet no one interfered as she took a step onto the small podium the table was placed upon. She was still looking at the card and an icy hand held Yugi's heart. When nothing but the table separated Rebecca from the King of Games she looked up into Yugi's eyes with a gaze that was empty and she gave him the card. Yugi took it without letting her go with his eyes, he recognized that emptiness and he didn't have to look down to know what was on the card.

Eventually he did anyway, he had to do something to break the deadlock they had gotten into, they had all gotten into.

In Loving Memory of  
>Arthur Hawkins<br>Beloved Grandfather and Boss

Yugi didn't look at the date nor the picture, the name took all his vision before it turned hazy. He dropped the card on the table. "Oh, Rebecca …"

Those words broke the tension and the time that had been standing still for such a long time suddenly started moving again. Rebecca sank to the ground in uncontrollable sobs and Yugi ducked down under the table and hugged the devastated girl tight. She put her face on his shoulder, tears rolling down her cheeks and her body shaking uncontrollable. Yugi himself was still comprehending. How? Why? He didn't cry, it was far too early. Atem sat down on his knees next to Yugi and put a hand on his lighters shoulder.

Snape picked up the card and gave it to Dumbledore who read it briefly. The students had erupted into low murmurs once the spell was broken, they all wondered what had happened. Tracey and Dean placed themselves on either side of Peter and Dean put an arm around the younger male's shoulders. Yugi who was facing the students saw all that and closed his eyes. He didn't want to see, he just wanted to shut down.

It took several minutes before Rebecca stopped shaking but when she did she seemed to regain some control over herself and a bit of her personality. She got up quickly and threw everyone in the room a hateful glare, including Yugi, before running out the Great Hall. When the gigantic double doors closed behind her it was as if a huge beast swallowed her whole. Peter turned around to follow her but Yugi spoke: "Peter Lepard, let her go. You can't do anything for her now, she has to think, most of all she has to get out of this place." Yugi stood up and put his hands in his pockets, he shrugged. "So do I for that matter."

Dumbeldore gave Yugi the card and nodded. "I understand. If you want you can leave tonight."

Yugi shook his head. "Tomorrow morning, I think that we should at least do an attempt to get some sleep." With those words he too turned and walked out of the room.

It wasn't until the doors behind him slammed shut that he started running. He went outside and just kept running and running and running until he reached the edge of the lake, there he fell down upon his knees.

"Why? Dammit! Why?" a girls voice sounded through the night. The snow was covering the landscape but neither Yugi nor Rebecca cared. "Why now? I should have been there! I don't belong here and he dies! Why? Tell me, dammit! I have not seen him since the summer and now he dies? I would have met him tomorrow again, I was only a day away! Now I've never been further! This can't be true!"

Yugi saw Rebecca at a different part of the lake throwing rocks into the water with great force. She kept shouting out her guilt, her grief and her anger. She wasn't aware of the short figure kneeling in the cold snow at the edge of the lake.

Yugi sat there till his lips turned blue, his tears that had eventually started to flow had turned to ice and Rebecca ran out of anger. Atem had withdrawn to his soul room the moment Rebecca ran out of the Great Hall and Yugi hadn't heard from him since. It wasn't like the first time, then it had been incomprehensible and had been soon followed with anger beyond measure, this time it was grief, pure grief. Around two o'clock in the morning Rebecca went silent and sank down against a tree, hugging herself tight both in sorrow and to expel the cold.

Yugi stood up and Atem appeared next to him in spirit-form, nearly invisible due to the darkness that rested over the grounds. /_Are you okay?_/ he asked Yugi.

"Overwhelmed", Yugi said and sighed, "I didn't know Arthur Hawkins that well at all, yet I'm so sad. I hadn't expected to react that strong on his passing, perhaps it's partly due to the timing. Momentarily I'm more worried about Rebecca, he was the only family she had." With those words Yugi walked over towards Rebecca, who from pure exhaustion had fallen asleep out in the cold and Yugi was grateful that he had followed her outside, it could have ended bad for her too if she had fallen asleep outside without being dressed for the cold. He woke her gently and together they made their way back into the castle in silence. Rebecca just followed Yugi, not really awake. Together they entered Yugi's room and Rebecca fell asleep on Yugi bed, clothes and all still on.

"Dobby!" Yugi called out softly and with a crack that was louder than Yugi had expected Dobby appeared.

"Is there something Dobby can do?" Dobby asked and fell silent when he saw the expression on Yugi's face. "Is something wrong, Yugi, sir?"

"Someone I know died Dobby, someone I cared for. Do you think you can get me a mattress and some blankets. I believe I'll be sleeping on the floor tonight."

The smile vaporized from Dobby's face. "Is Yugi, sir, alright?"

"It's never easy Dobby, but I'll be fine", Yugi told him with a reassuring smile, "There are others I'm more worried about. Tomorrow Rebecca and I will be leaving the castle. I wonder who took care of the funeral arrangements, perhaps Rebecca knows."

"It's probably Raphael", Rebecca said, all but awake.

Yugi turned around as if stung. "What?" he asked the half-sleeping blonde.

"Raphael."

/_It can't be the same_/ Atem stated at once as the same face appeared in both his and Yugi's mind, /_It's not possible_/

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked, knowing damn well that there was no way for Atem to be sure.

Atem shook his head as Dobby appeared with a mattress and some blankets. Yugi thanked him and wished him goodnight, Dobby left. /_No, in fact deep down I know who it is. So do you, Yugi. I believe we'll be meeting an old acquaintance tomorrow, hm, make that today._/

"I've never really met Raphael", Yugi said, "his soul had already been taken when I returned. You are the one meeting an old acquaintance. Perhaps Rebecca can tell us more when we travel home." With those words Yugi lay down on his improvisational bed and despite the events of the day he fell asleep at once.

Atem at the other hand didn't have such needs like eating and sleeping and sat down in the windowsill instead. Raphael …

Atem wasn't looking forward to the meeting, he wasn't looking forward to anything anymore he realized. Once upon a time his life here almost seemed perfect, he remembered thinking that, that it was okay, that he didn't need anything more because everything was bright and happy. He hadn't known who he was then, he hadn't had a clue and then the Ishtars had appeared. It happened more and more often that Atem wished back to the days when he had been clueless, clueless but satisfied.

/_Dammit_/ he whispered out into the night, well aware that no one could hear him, /_Damn it all_/

* * *

><p>I promised some Christmas drama, but how many of you had been expecting this? I planned this from the beginning. Raphael is one of my absolute favorite characters but I actually really have to refresh my memory on the Waking the Dragons arc, the problem is that I'm watching the original uncut, undubbed series now and am still at Duelist Kingdom and I don't want to jump over anything, so I'll have to satisfy myself with Wikia momentarily.<p>

I really hope to update sooner next time. I'm on a holiday now, so let's hope so.

Review!


	20. The Streets of London

New chapter!  
>I promised this one would be sooner and it is, I just meant even sooner than this. Sorry, it didn't go as fluently as I had hoped.<br>Ah, well, Enjoy

* * *

><p>The following morning Yugi and Rebecca didn't join the others for breakfast, instead they did a small effort to eat something in Yugi's room but neither of the two was hungry. The day after everyone who wanted to leave was allowed to leave and Yugi had considered waiting for that, but he simply didn't want to do that to Rebecca. As they were both staring at their food in silence Yugi thought deeply. His thoughts pretty much the way they tended to be when someone had lost someone they cared about, the meaning of life, the meaning of death, why did it hurt so much? Natural thoughts that calmed Atem who was passively listening to them, not at all the way Yugi's thoughts had been after the massacre in the tomb.<p>

"Rebecca, you should go and pack your stuff, I'm going to talk to Dumbledore, that is if you want to leave today instead of with the other students tomorrow", Yugi added gently.

"I want to leave this place as soon as possible using as little magic as possible. I don't want to be reminded of this world for a while", she said sounding bitter and Yugi knew she felt guilty for not having been home when her grandfather died.

"I'll let Dumbledore know", Yugi said, "will you be alright?"

"Yeah, sure, I probably should talk to Peter anyway, he'll wonder what's going on. The entire school probably does and they can have an explanation. It's completely natural for an elderly man to die, right?" Rebecca said and clenched her fists in silent fury.

/_Yugi, may I?_/ Atem asked and Yugi withdrew without hesitating.

"Atem", Rebecca said acknowledging the spirits now embodied presence.

"Rebecca", Atem said silently and waited for the blonde to say anything else, when she didn't he continued, "I'm dead, you know that. We can't say that my passing was entirely natural but I can tell you this; the realm of the dead is a good place. At least for people like Arthur it is, there is a certain peace. I've felt it and in that moment I didn't want anything else but to enter that place, I was denied access by a Death Eater but you're grandfather walked straight into it. Your grandma and Yugi's grandpa and all your grandfather's friends were there waiting for him, I can tell since I've seen the people from my past waiting for me. The only ones suffering are we Rebecca. I'm not telling you not to grieve the dead, do so, but you must realize that this is the natural cause of things and eventually we must accept it."

Rebecca looked up into Atem's red eyes and nodded. "Yes, you're right."

Atem smiled and gave the girl a hug. "Now let's do what has to be done", Atem said and the two parted, Rebecca on her way to the Ravenclaw dorms and Yugi who was back in control on his way to Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door gently and immediately received a 'come in' as reply.

Yugi opened the door and walked into the office, neither challenging nor hesitatingly as he tended to but quite neutral. Dumbledore was staring out one of the windows over the snow-covered grounds. "I suppose you'd like to go home now?" Dumbledore said, "I think I can also assume that the two of you want to travel in a muggle way as much as possible."

"Indeed", Yugi said and cocked his head, fighting back the need to yawn, he'd slept poorly.

"How are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked genuinely concerned, something that surprised Yugi.

"I'm doing quite alright", Yugi said, "I haven't seen Professor Hawkins for quite a while and I didn't know him all too well. Surely it came as a shock, he was my grandfather's best friend but I'll keep it together, Rebecca seems to have more trouble with it all. She feels guilty."

"I see, Professor Flitwick will accompany you to Hogsmeade and from there he'll Apparate you to London, from there you'll have to find your way on your own", Dumbledore explained and took some steps away from the window to face Yugi. "This might sound insensitive, but I have to ask, does the spirit of the puzzle have anything to do with what happened?"

An expression balancing between anger, surprise and fear appeared on Yugi's face but Atem shook his head viciously. /_No, that can't be!_/

Using all the skills he had learned in the four years in wrong company Yugi gathered himself and said as coolly as he could manage: "I really hope not. I won't deny it isn't a possibility, but I seriously doubt it. All our enemies with only a few exceptions are gone and those that remain are more your enemies than mine. I'll let you know once we return."

Dumbledore nodded, knowing that he wouldn't receive a better answer than that and told Yugi were to find Professor Flitwick and offered him his condolences which Yugi accepted with a nod.

An hour later Yugi and Rebecca walked in silence over the crowded streets of muggle London. Together they headed towards the airport without even having booked a flight, but Yugi had forgotten one thing … in the muggle world he still was some sort of celebrity and an easy recognized one. Neither he nor Rebecca noticed that people were pointing and whispering about them until they suddenly walked into a wall of people, mostly consisting out of teenagers but also of people in Yugi's own age and older and Yugi realized why they were there when he noticed that some individuals actually carried duel-disks around their arms. None of them looked very happy.

"Eh, Yugi", Rebecca said and poked him in the side when Yugi nearly walked into the wall of people because his mind was elsewhere, "I think we've been recognized."

Yugi backed up a couple of steps but the crowd moving around the wall of people created a solid wall themselves and Yugi and Rebecca were trapped.

"Do you know how many rumors have made their rounds about you?" a man a little older than Yugi asked and to Yugi's surprise Rebecca went red.

"I haven't heard any of them. I wasn't interested", Yugi said coolly, catching the wall of people by surprise with his fluent English. "Nor am I now. Can I pass?"

"You were a legend that suddenly disappeared and all we receive is 'can I pass'?" a kid said, not angry but hurt. He was one of the youngest in the assembly, ten or so and his parents were standing behind him, not feeling comfortable, it was obvious that they did not belong in the crowd.

"The kid is right", a teen with a red hoodie said, "and people weren't nice towards you about it. The King of Games suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth after a tomb collapses in Egypt. No one really knows why. There are duelist that think that you are selfish for not giving up your title when you have stopped dueling, someone else should be allowed to take it."

"Is that your opinion", Yugi asked sharply, once again surprising the assembly. Everyone in the dueling world knew that Yugi Muto was as shy and gentle as a kitten but as dangerous as a lion when dueling. The kind of tone he used toward them now went as well together with everything they knew about Yugi as Jim Carrey with a silent film.

The teen nodded. "Yes, it is."

Yugi smiled then. "You are right, someone who has stopped dueling should give up everything they have fought for just like that." The sarcasm weighed heavy. "However that's not the point, how would you decide who would become the new King of Games? What gives someone the right to that title."

The teen looked slightly taken aback and didn't say anything so someone else answered. "Being the best, of course."

Yugi chuckled. "Is that so? Has any of you ever heard of Bandit Keith?"

The major part of the assembly nodded and someone said: "He was the American guy that was champion in America until Pegasus beat him and he became a drunk. He then started cheating his way through Duelist Kingdom and did an attempt to murder Pegasus but was killed himself trying to do so."

The mother of the ten year old put her hands over her sons ears and looked around shocked. Everyone ignored her, including her husband and son who pushed her hands away.

Yugi nodded and kept smiling. "Yes, indeed. He was the best, but did he deserve to be called the King of Games?"

"No", people murmured and some just shook their heads.

"Well then, what kind of person does deserve to be the King of Games?" Yugi asked curiously.

"He can't be an everyday amateur!" someone Yugi couldn't see said.

"Or she", a female voice said, "but I agree. You must be able to play it! You must know the game."

"Sounds reasonable", Yugi said, "but even that is subjective. When do you _know_ the game? When you know the rules or is there more to knowing the game?"

"What more to it can there be?" the same female voice said and a figure fought its way trough the crowd, she had a long leather jacket and her blue hair in a ponytail.

Yugi chuckled lowly again but it was Rebecca who answered. "This game was created five thousand years ago in ancient Egypt. Priests with magical powers captured people's Ka in stone tablets. Ka's were beasts, monsters or spirits living deep within people's souls. They used these beasts to duel each other. Pegasus revived the game after he found carvings of it in an underground tomb. Already five thousand year before even the Egyptians it is said that the people of Atlantis were aware of the beasts in our souls and when in need they asked for help from the Ka's of the dead who lived in a separate dimension. Who of you dares to say you know the game now?"

That effectively silenced the crowd who up until then had protested and said that they did know the game.

"That can't be true. Atlantis didn't exist", someone said eventually.

"Who cares?" Rebecca retorted, "it's still a part of this game. Just that it isn't real doesn't mean that it can't have consequences. These two bits of history or simple fantasy were what inspired Pegasus to the creation of the game and thus a part of the game itself. If you can't feel the life in it you aren't worthy of receiving the title King of Games." She took some steps forward until she nearly melted into the wall of people. "Now", she said, her voice low and dangerous "let us pass. We have a funeral to attend."

"What?" a girl with a gray cardigan said, "that's terrible. It's almost Christmas!"

"Death doesn't care about Christmas", Rebecca said and almost smiled. "Now move."

"Who?" the same girl asked, seemingly oblivious to Rebecca's repeated request to move.

"My grandfather. Move!"

When no one did Rebecca roughly pushed them aside and they let her pass, Yugi had to run after Rebecca whose legs were much longer than his.

"Does this mean you're back?" the little boy yelled after Yugi and in that moment Yugi knew how the hero in a movie felt when someone desperately pleaded for the anonymous hero's help. But Yugi wasn't an anonymous hero and his help was needed elsewhere.

Slowly Yugi turned around, walked back towards the crowd and knelt down before the little boy. "No, my help is needed elsewhere. My days as a duelist are over. They were the best few years in my life and then a tomb collapsed and all my friends disappeared. I was really mad then, now I am sad and every time I pick up my deck I think about them and cry. You have to treasure your friends, if you believe in them and they in you nothing can stop you. Do you know the game?"

The boy shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I'm not that good."'

"Good answer. Those who think they know it aren't able to learn it properly", Yugi said with a smile and then turned towards the crowd, his smile vaporizing, "What are you all still waiting for? Don't you have places to be?"

Complaining and murmuring the crowd scattered and eventually disappeared. Yugi chuckled lowly again. "I've never liked all the attention. I used to be way too shy and in addition to that I couldn't speak English. Things are easier now but I still don't like it. Tell me, how old are you?"

"I'm ten, sir", the boy answered and his parents exchanged worried glances. Yugi ignored them.

"Just call me Yugi. So what's your name?" Yugi asked and smiled.

/_Yugi_/ Atem said almost reproachfully when he saw the idea forming in Yugi's head.

/_Do you need them?_/

/_Well, actually no, not really. I don't think so_/ Atem said but Yugi could tell he wasn't pleased.

"I'm Cole", the boy said and blushed.

"Then I have something for you", Yugi said and conjured something from his pocket. It was wrapped in a white cloth and without removing it Yugi gave it to Cole. "Open it when you're home. It's yours and yours alone. Create something out of it that is more adapted to you, I'm not going to need it anymore anyway."

Cole didn't take it. "Mum always says I'm not allowed to accept things from strangers."

Yugi laughed at that. "She's definitely right, you really shouldn't. Then I'll give it to your mum and when she has decided that it's safe and I'm far away she can give it to you.

"Just take it Missy", Cole's father said when his wife hesitated. "I'll catch up with you two soon. Go ahead."

Rebecca sighed but waited. Cole's father heard her and turned around. "It'll only take a minute." Then he turned back to Yugi. "I'm Bud Clancy and I have an older son, he's nineteen now. Ever since the Duelist Kingdom he's admired you. He used to force me to watch with him so I recognized you, I normally would have been more cautious towards someone looking like you, no offense", he added quickly.

"None taken", Yugi said, "I'm use."

Bud blushed in the exact same way his son did. "I'm sorry. But I saw you with Leon von Schroeder and I couldn't help but notice how good you were with that kid. But even he … how come this game only appeals to troubled people?"

Yugi smiled at that, a sad smile. "It doesn't only appeal to troubled people but it tends to be the troubled who learn to understand it best because they need the support. I've said it before, there is life in the game and that life is a sort of support for people who have no one else. They turn to the cards and most import the souls in it for company and faith. It's not harmful, but it's not the most ideal way to live. Is Cole troubled?"

Bud nodded slowly. "Yes, weird thing happen around him all the time. My wife and I are extremely worried about him and things happen so often that other children notice it too, they bully him."

"What kind of things?" Yugi asked curious and genuinely concerned.

"Things disappear, change shape, switch location. I'd almost believe he's able to use telekinesis, but I don't believe in that stuff." The man gave a sigh and first now Yugi noticed how worn out he looked.

"Why not?", Yugi asked and Rebecca bit back the first genuine laugh since the bad news behind the mans back.

Bud shrugged. "Those kind of things aren't possible, aren't supposed to be possible."

Yugi frowned, troubled now. "I'd have a more open mind towards things like that if I were you. That attitude could become harmful for him if it turns out that you were wrong."

"You sound like a teacher. It's not what I expected from you at all, it's not the appearance you give", Bud said ashamed while avoiding Yugi's statement. He knew that the younger was right, but he just couldn't believe.

"That's what my students thought too, but the fact is I am a teacher nowadays", Yugi confessed. "You see, that's a great secret, I'd like it if you keep it for yourself. But I teach students to see discrimination, separation and foolish prejudice and how to do something about it."

Bud stared at him. "Really?"

"Well, yeah, why not?"

"I don't know, it's just not what I expected from someone like you", Bud said, feeling more and more cornered.

"Someone like me? Then who am I? How is someone like me like?" Yugi said, knowing he had turned the mans words against him.

"I … I'd say ignorant. Treating life as if it's a game, as if there is no future to worry about. Irresponsible and arrogant", he said blushing.

"Hm, remember what I said about being more open minded, it could simplify things", Yugi said and shook his head, "Now I have to attend a funeral." Not deeming the man worthy of another gaze Yugi passed him by and joined Rebecca. Together they continued their walk towards the airport.

"Now we really have to get out of this place. Within twenty-four hours every duelist in the world will now that you've been spot on the London streets, probably with evidence and all", Rebbeca complained, "you're just so damn easy to recognize. How did you manage to stay unseen for four years?"

"Four years ago I didn't really make use of the London main streets, or any main street at all", Yugi said and gave a harsh laugh, "I don't think I like this. I believe our greatest problem will be Pegasus, he'll go great lengths to find us."

"To find _you_", Rebecca said with a sigh. "Let's leave this country before we have all the duelists of Britain after us. What did you give that kid anyway?"

"You know that, Rebecca. Don't you?" Yugi said without looking at the taller blonde.

"Yes, but it just seems a bit strange", she said.

"It's my final farewell, a sign to prove that my days as duelist are over", Yugi explained, "Atem wasn't altogether pleased but he didn't object."

"He wouldn't do that, you know that", Rebecca said, "It just remains strange and perhaps a bad decision. But I do think I can understand your reasoning."

Yugi just nodded and in silence they continued their journey. It wasn't until they reached the airport that one of them spoke. "Rebecca, yesterday evening you said that it probably was Raphael who took care of everything. Is that accurate or were you talking in your sleep?" Yugi wondered.

"Hm, I don't remember saying it but it is accurate. Raphael had come to apologize only a couple of weeks after the accident", Rebecca said and started to tell, "he and grandpa sat and talked for a very long time. Raphael filled grandpa in on everything he wanted to know about Atlantis under the condition it would remain a secret and grandpa told him about what had happened down in the tomb, at least for as far as we knew. I don't know if grandpa ever filled him in on what I wrote to him later, but anyway.  
>After that exchange they talked about the future, grandpa wanted to know what Raphael would do from there. Raphael had no idea and grandpa offered him a job but Raphael declined and said that he couldn't accept such kindness from someone he had done wrong and that he'd try to make it on his own. Before that he'd already been in France without being able to find a place where he wished to start over.<br>Grandpa told him the offer would stand as long as it was necessary and three years later Raphael appeared on our driveway once again. He'd tried to start a new life all over the world but he couldn't bring himself to be around all those people and having to lie about his past but he knew very well that either they'd refuse to believe him or cut all ties to him if he'd told the truth.  
>I believe grandpa and I were a sort of relief to him. He didn't have to lie to us since we both already knew what had happened and he was reminded once again that there is true kindness in the world. It was surprisingly nice to have Raphael around, I was quite skeptical and not all that friendly to him in the beginning but he understood and had patience with me.<br>He lived with us in the same house and he did all the work grandpa and I couldn't do. He's really handy with whatever you give him and he's patient, so unbelievably patient. He never says much but neither did grandpa so the house remained pretty much the way it was, only cleaner and more lamps worked simultaneously. His business skills proved priceless on several occasions too and he's very convincing, something which has helped grandpa more than he realized I think.  
>Raphael and grandpa got along really great, both of them got a new friend, something which grandpa really needed since his best friend passed away. I'm sorry, Yugi."<p>

Yugi nodded. "It's okay. Continue", he said fascinated, not doubting which Raphael she had meant in the least anymore.

"Raphael became part of the family in those months I was there. I put him through enough hardship, but it became better with time, when I understood that his motives were completely unselfish. Then I received a letter from Hogwarts and there I went. I haven't seen either of them since", Rebecca finished and trailed of. Yugi knew that they were both thinking the same thing. One of them neither would ever see again.

"Does he know about Hogwarts?" Yugi wondered.

"Clearly the Ministry thinks he's a part of the family, so yeah. Suddenly a woman in weird clothing stood on the doorstep. Raphael opened and she introduced herself as Minerva McGonagall", Rebecca said and grabbed Yugi's arm to pull him out of the way of a woman with two heavy bags who hadn't noticed him. "There we can buy tickets. I assume you haven't thought about the fact that it's still quite expensive to fly to the U.S have you?"

Yugi blushed when he realized that he indeed hadn't thought about the economical parts of the trip at all when he had told Dumbledore that he didn't want to travel by magical means.

"Luckily I have", Rebecca said, "I never really wanted to go to Hogwarts and I made sure that I'd be able to get home as soon as I could if in need of that. Though I hadn't expected it to be under these circumstances."

Yugi realized that Rebecca had put up a face and in that same moment he realized that he had done the exact same thing. They were both doing their best to make the other feel better or simply to distract them from their inner pain. Rebecca bought two tickets to America and somehow magically conjured her passport and somehow his too. Yugi was now seriously mad at himself for his carelessness. What would he have done hadn't Rebecca been the gathered type?

They boarded, their appearance and their lack of equipment calling on some attention but Yugi explained the situation calmly to border security and after the workers at the airport checked the story and got it confirmed they were allowed to leave. Raphael would be meeting them that evening at the airport in Fresno and Yugi wasn't looking forward to the meeting.

"Tell me more", Yugi asked after a while to distract himself, "What happened when Minerva showed up on your doorstep?"

Rebecca looked at Yugi in astonishment but as soon as she realized why he asked the question she told him, to distract herself as well as Yugi. "Raphael was suspicious of her, especially when she said that she was looking for me. He demanded from her to know why she was there and refused to welcome her inside. When McGonagall told Raphael that I had been accepted into a school called Hogwarts but that I never had been invited due to 'slow awakening' he became even more suspicious of her. I went to college at that time, the idea of me being accepted into a different school was simply ridiculous.  
>Of course, grandpa being the way he is he stopped Raphael from slamming the door in her face but really you couldn't have blamed him if he had. She came with a nonsense story dressed as if it was Halloween, I'd have slammed the door shut the moment I would have opened it. Grandpa invited her in and McGonagall explained about what kind of school Hogwarts was, I think she was surprised by the fact that we reacted so calmly. She couldn't know that grandpa and I and especially Raphael had a great deal of experience with magic. She proved herself of course, hadn't we demanded some proof she would have become far too suspicious for all our goods.<br>I didn't tell McGonagall that I didn't want to go, I might have dealt with it nicely but I was far too surprised to decline. Later I told Raphael and grandpa that there was no chance in the world that I was gonna go, Raphael sided with me and said that if I didn't want to get involved with magic no one should force me to, but grandpa reminded me of all the accidents that had occurred every now and then because I couldn't control myself and said that it would be good for me to learn. So I went and then you were there and now we're sitting here, on our way to yet another funeral of a beloved while a war is threatening to break loose any time." Tears found their way down over Rebecca's cheeks silently. "I'm so tired of this."

"Me too", Yugi said and hugged Rebecca, "but as we can't change anything, let's face it together. The three of us."

"The four of us", Rebecca said, "there isn't a chance that Raphael is going to let us leave again without him, especially with the circumstances being as they are."

"Raphael", Yugi sighed, "I've never truly met him, you know. He and Atem might have some things to sort out though, it'll be ... interesting."

"Raphael doesn't talk about his time with Doma at all, neither does he talk about everything that happened after they stole the God Cards. He's a silent person, he ponders a lot. I think he feels guilty still, it might be good for him to talk to the Pharaoh", Rebecca said and then went quiet, something quite unusual for her.

Hours later the plain landed and Yugi had to wake Rebecca who had fallen asleep halfway across the Atlantic while Yugi had stared down at the sea constantly thinking about the lost continent. Without trouble they entered the country and were met at the airport by Raphael. He looked pretty much the way Yugi remembered him. Tall, blonde and muscular, but without the coat.

Yugi withdrew, this was not a meeting that he should or even wanted to intercept, so Atem found himself staring out through solid eyes slightly surprised. He started walking slower and slower and came eventually to a halt while Rebecca just continued straight on and gave Raphael a hug. His arms were so large that they almost hid Rebecca from view. It was amazing that he didn't cause her injury.

Atem stood still and waited almost twenty meters away from them, yet careful not to loose sight of them in the crowded airport of Fresno.

"Raphael, let me introduce a friend of mine", Rebecca said and Atem moved closer, "His name is Yug … eh, no, his name is Atem."

Raphael frowned at the name but as soon as he caught sight of the short, slim figure and red eyes of the person he had known as the nameless Pharaoh he understood. "We have met, Rebecca, you know that."

Atem was surprised by how familiar Raphael's voice sounded, but then again, had a voice ever hurt him as much as Raphael's had?

"I know you've met Atem, but you haven't met Yugi. Why did you switch?" she asked, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"You retrieved your name", Raphael stated, ignoring Rebecca.

Atem nodded, waiting for Raphael's reaction on him being there. The air surrounding them was tense and people unconsciously avoided walking in between them although that created a large gap in the crowd. It was up to Raphael if that tension would remain or fade away.

"I heard what happened. You have my condolences", Raphael said, choosing what Yugi thought to be the best opportunity.

Atem gave a weak and tired smile, though somehow kept his intimidating dignity. "And you have mine", he said, his tone not unfriendly at all.

From his soul's room Yugi smiled sadly, there would be no storm, but the rain would fall the harder. Without a word he and the spirit switched places so Yugi could meet the person that more than four years earlier had taken his soul.

* * *

><p>This chapter was such a pain to write and I though it would be one big piece of junk when I had finished it but reading through it again while adding and changing some things made it look a lot better than expected.<p>

As I won't receive my test results until April I think you should all help me by reviewing so I can have another shot of the feel-good chemical! (Crashdiet:)

P.S: I'll reply to your reviews as soon as I get the chance. Tomorrow I'm out buying gifts for mum birthday so it could take a while. ):If I've ever forgotten you I'm sorry:(


	21. Orphans and Brothers

I know I normally never update on Wednesdays but we had the day off so I finished this instead. I hope you enjoy.  
>It's been a while since I wrote a chapter this long :)<p>

* * *

><p>"I can't let you leave, not like this!" Raphael protested.<p>

Things had turned out the way Rebecca had thought they would. Raphael and Atem had talked long and well before the funeral, something that neither Yugi nor Rebecca had interfered in, although Yugi later told Rebecca that the two men had told each other everything. Raphael now knew Atem's past and Atem knew Raphael's.

Yugi had joked and had told Rebecca that Raphael now probably knew more than Yugi did himself, but truth be told, Rebecca really did think that Atem had told Raphael more than he had ever told Yugi. Rebecca was convinced that the spirit of the ancient pharaoh protected Yugi as much as he could, even from the truth, but he didn't feel the need to protect Raphael like that and was thus able to tell him much more. Rebecca hadn't told Yugi her suspicions as it was something the two men had to settle themselves.

Yugi got along well with Raphael, but then again, Yugi got along with everyone if he set his mind to it. In many ways were Yugi and Raphael quite alike, they both had a hard time fitting in but the few people they had cared about had been everything to them.

Rebecca had attended the funeral as only relative, Raphael as only friend and Rebecca could tell Yugi didn't really know what he counted like. She was sure that her grandfather would have counted Yugi and the Pharaoh as friends but Yugi saw himself as less, an acquaintance perhaps. The rest of the people there were people who her grandpa had worked with before he retired and some people he vaguely knew from town. No one really had anything to say and Rebecca was quite sure that the four of them were the only ones really grieving.

There had been an oddly calm air over the entire event. Arthur had died in a heart attack and they hadn't been able to rescue him. An unexpected and sudden death, the way her grandpa had wanted to. She reminded herself of Atem's words on death and how it felt and they comforted her. At the same time they troubled her.

Rebecca wasn't the one to be engulfed by emotion and wasn't devastated enough not to have noticed the other side of what Atem had said.  
>"<em>I've felt it and in that moment I didn't want anything else but to enter that place …"<em>

Yeah, Rebecca had noticed what it meant to Atem. She also knew Yugi hadn't as he was more affected by emotion than she ever was. She used her head, he wass heart and that was why he often failed to see the suffering of the ancient spirit who did his very best to hide his pain from his lighter who he did not wish to burden.

That in addition to the death of her last family member, a world she was a stranger in, PTSD among the people she was close to and the threat of a war that would target her in the same way as the Jews had been target in the second world war left her with a feeling so heavy and dreadful that only by thinking rationally she was able to keep her head above water. She felt like she was drowning but she couldn't let anyone know, just like Atem couldn't let Yugi know, someone had to be the rock and she didn't want to put that upon Atem alone.

She had never before been more grateful for Raphael's presence. He was the only one that made her feel as if she could stop being the rock for a while and become the flower the rock protected. She had accepted the fact that she couldn't rely on Raphael longer than the Christmas Holidays but Raphael disagreed on that.

Christmas had passed by unnoticed and now a couple of days after New Year they were sitting at the kitchen table. Yugi was in control although he had told them that Atem was very present in this argument. In two days they would leave for Hogwarts but Raphael protested. In the time after the funeral Rebecca, Yugi and Atem had together told Raphael everything that was playing in the wizarding world. The tall man had listened without commenting and hadn't brought the subject up after he got all the information Yugi, Atem and Rebecca had gathered about the wizarding world.

They had also told him about the duel monsters that had shown up. That fact Raphael didn't like. "It's far too much alike the war in Atlantis. Duel monsters chose sides then too. If they choose against you the army of the enemy will be more troublesome than you can imagine. We both know that the magic these wizards know can't live up to the power of the shadows. We all know that Atem can end this war as soon as this dark lord shows his face."

Rebecca, Yugi and Atem were all quiet, considering Raphael's words.

"Not if the beasts take his side. It's not the same as with Atlantis though. The Dominion has stayed out of this and it probably will remain out of this fight", Atem said. "It are the beasts in the shadows that make me worried, they have a will of their own, luckily they are still dependent on the shadows which makes that I can control them even if they side against us. That will take a lot of strength though, far more than I can spare. I did wrong again."

"What exactly happened?" Raphael wondered.

Atem hesitatingly told him the entire story about the illusions he put the fifth year through, the illusions he hadn't been able to stop as he fell victim to them himself. Raphael was stunned, to say the least. After a long and heavy silence Raphael sighed. "How are they doing now, how are you doing now?"

"I'm grateful I can't dream", was all Atem said.

"I hear stories", Rebecca said, thinking Raphael had the right to know more, "The Slytherins had a class with the Ravenclaws afterward. They were in shock, each and every one of them. No one knew what had happened, not even the Slytherins themselves it seemed. They don't and do remember at the same time. Ginny, a Gryffindor in my year, told me the fifth years can wake up screaming and tell the most horrific stories as if they've actually lived them."

"You know", Raphael said and an odd, sad smile appeared on his face, "Once upon a time I was so mad at you because you destroyed your country. I learned it was never your fault and now … now I could be mad at you again, but I'm not. You are just human and humans screw up sometimes, the only difference is that when I screw up no one but me will notice but when you do the same thing everyone around you is affected. That doesn't make me angry, that makes me feel sorry for you."

Rebecca smiled sadly. She had come to the very same conclusion. It wasn't fair that so much responsibility was put on one persons shoulders.

Atem had given a short nod. "Thank you."

"Then there is a way to rid the world of the shadows", Raphael sighed, "I didn't hold that for possible anymore."

"In theory it should be possible, yes", Rebecca said. "But I don't know how to bring the beasts from the shadows to the Dominion."

"Or I wait another five thousand years", Atem suggested. "When you're all gone I'll be stuck in the puzzle again, will loose my memory again and will have to start the entire thing over again. Considering all the tomb-keepers are dead that could be hard."

"At least next time you won't have Bakura against you", Rebecca said and had patted Atem on the back. For some reason all three of them laughed at that, although I wasn't funny at all.

Rebecca focused back on the present argument.

"If there is a war coming I'm not going to let you walk straight into it, knowing you could both die, without being able to do anything myself!" Raphael said angrily. "I understand that you both feel the need to be part of this war as it targets you and the people you care about! But it targets the people I care about too!"

"I wouldn't try to stop you, Raphael", Yugi said and put his fingers on the edge of the table, "but it's not a possibility for you to enter the wizarding world. And even if you make it that far, you can't enter Hogwarts."

"At this point it isn't for Rebecca either!" Raphael said, something that made Rebecca snap up.

"Why not?"

"Don't you realize, Rebecca? You must have thought about it! I'm surprised they haven't showed up on the doorstep yet!" Raphael said and an odd tone of desperation entered his voice, a tone which made Rebecca shiver in fear.

"Oh no", Yugi said as he understood.

"What?" Rebecca demanded to know, "Tell me!"

In that exact moment someone knocked on the door. "That will be them", Raphael said darkly.

"Such great timing they have", Yugi said lowly and clenched his fists.

"What, Yugi? What?" Rebecca asked urgent and fought back the tears of fear in her eyes.

"Rebecca, the reason I ran away after the accident in the tomb was mostly out of anger and grief, but there was a second reason ..." Yugi fell silent as Raphael entered the room again with a skinny man with glasses at his heels.

"Yugi, Rebecca, this is Sean Daniels from social services", Raphael introduced them.

Rebecca felt as if the world around her came crashing down. Social services … she was used to being an orphan but she had always had her grandfather and had never felt like one. Now the lack of family she had was more clear than it had been ever before

"Really, Yugi Muto? Such a pleasure to meet you. And you too, of course, miss Hawkins", the man said and nervously played with his glasses.

Yugi nodded silently and stayed put, he became the person he was every time someone threatened anyone he cared about. A tougher person that had never been present before his years hunting a Death Eater. It was when Yugi was in that state of mind that he was more like Atem than ever before. Resolute Yugi put his feet on the fourth and last chair at the table as Raphael sat down without offering the man a seat. Yugi gave the man a devilish sweet smile and Rebecca bit back a laugh. She was him grateful.

Raphael sat straight and crossed his arms. Rebecca put her arms on the table and rested her head on them. All three of them, all four of them Rebecca was sure, gazed up at the man from the government.

"I can see … I can see that there is a hostile attitude towards me but I'm not here to..."

Rebecca interrupted him. "If you are going to say that you are not here to tear a family apart then you better keep quiet because that's the exact reason you're here!"

"Rebecca, that was not what I was going to say. You have no family left to tear apart anymore ..."

Someone could just as well have hit her in the face. Never had Rebecca's attitude towards a person shifted so quickly. First she had found the man pathetic, someone easy to make fun of, but now she despised him. Raphael stood up as if stung, placed both hands on the table and leaned forward. He opened his mouth to say something but Rebecca was faster. She had never had trouble finding the right words but this time she took inspiration from Yugi's classes.

"Isn't it funny?" she wondered.

The man looked confused. "What is?"

"When you entered the room you were introduced as Sean Daniels. Now, you expect me to call you mr Daniels, you can't deny that as it is a form of respect. I probably would call you that. You showed me respect by calling me miss Hawkins when you greeted me. Now, people often say 'please don't call me by my surname, use my first name' and until that point you are not supposed to use a persons first name. You didn't say that which made you come over distant, cold and uncaring. However you know that it will complicate your work if I don't like you, so you chose a substitute, a very unwise one, you used my first name to show that you actually knew who I was. But to me it just showed that you expect more respect _from_ me than you have _for _me. Funny, isn't it? Older people can choose when to stop paying respect for the younger but not the other way around. And then they complain that today's kids have no manners."

Yugi laughed and did little to hide it. "Mr Daniels, I suggest you choose your words more carefully. There are few people in the world as good with them as Rebecca is. Oh, and before I forget, tell me your definition of family?"

"People who share the same DNA are family", he said full conviction.

"Let me guess", Raphael said and sat down again, "You have three brother and at least one sister. You have over fifty cousins, all four of your grandparents are dead and you just came back from a Christmas were they toasted for their souls, the house was overfilled, people annoyed each other and you were going insane. You hated the fact that you yet again had to go deal with another orphan girl that you would have to force out of the house she knows so well to an orphanage far away where she knows no one. Not that you care about her well-being, you just want to get this over with and thus you tell her she has no family left and nothing that attaches her to this house. Well, she might not have family left in your eyes but I've lived in this house for several years now and if I remember correctly the common law adoption should be considered to give me responsibility over Rebecca, which would mean that Rebecca's life doesn't have to change as drastic as you are suggesting."

Rebecca gawked and Yugi stared at Raphael in astonishment. Rebecca had considered Raphael a part of the family for quite a while now, but this she hadn't seen coming. Would Raphael be willing to do that for her? To her it seemed to be the best thing that could happen considering the circumstances, there was only one thing she didn't get: "What's common law adoption?"

Sean Daniels fingered at his tie nervously. "Common law adoption is an adoption which has not been recognized beforehand by the courts, but where a parent, without resort to any formal legal process, leaves his or her children with a friend or relative for an extended period of time. At the end of a designated term of voluntary co-habitation, as witnessed by the public, the adoption is then considered binding, in some courts of law, even though not initially sanctioned by the court. The particular terms of a common-law adoption are defined by each legal jurisdiction. The U.S. state of California recognizes common law relationships after co-habitation of 2 years. The practice is called "private fostering" in Britain."

"Can't a person receive a normal answer?" Rebecca retorted. It wasn't that she was not use to that kind of language, she had been in college and all and it was pretty much her primal language, but she just enjoyed complaining on Sean. The fact was that she was touched by Raphael's words.

"I'm sorry, sir, but the common law adoption isn't a possibility in this situation as Rebecca lived with her grandfather and he didn't leave her in your care in the way the common law adoption requires even if more than two years have passed."

"It's so easy for you, isn't it?" Yugi asked and stood up. No matter how short he was, he could be intimidating, a thing Raphael had never seen before, not from Yugi and Rebecca could tell how much it surprised him. "You have all your family. Do you even realize that each and every person in front of you now has lost all their family. I lived with my grandpa just like Rebecca, and when he died that was the last of my family, same thing for Rebecca. Raphael lost his family in an accident when he was just a young teenager. All three of us are loners but we have each other, I have known Rebecca since she was eight and Raphael has lived in the same house with her since she was twelve, now she's sixteen! Who in the world is better capable of taking care of her than him? Taking her away is the worst thing you could do!"

"Can't you just leave us be?" Rebecca said, suddenly feeling drained of all energy, though unusually peaceful at the same time. "I'm in good hands, even though I personally don't think I need to be taken care of, though every sixteen year old thinks so, so it doesn't count I guess. I'm not alone, there are people that need help far more than I do. Common law adoption doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

Daniels seemed to have lost his temper. "Fine then", he snapped. "The U.S state of California recognizes Raphael as Rebecca's common law relationship which makes him responsible for her. Who the hell cares anyway? Common law adoption has nothing to do with the law! There is no law, no court, or anything in it! Do however the hell you please!" With those words Sean Daniels stormed out of the house, praying he'd never have to visit those scary types ever again.

As he was blindly storming down the driveway he bumped into an even taller man with a long white beard who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Sorry", Sean said, "Are you going in there? You'd better have something to say which they like to hear or they'll lynch you."

The man with the white beard chuckled. "Oh, I really wouldn't know what they are going to think."

* * *

><p>_This is among the most extraordinary things I've seen in my life_/ Atem said.

"What is", Yugi asked, unaware about the fact he was speaking out loud.

/_That they try to remove a person from a family in which they thrive. Besides, Rebecca can look after herself even better than we can look after ourselves._/

/_There is so much in this world that doesn't make sense. Had it been a different person he'd have stopped at no lengths to take her with him too make sure she ends up in a safe place, even though she's fine here, while he at the same time could close his eyes when a five-year old is being raped by her neighbor and he knows it but just doesn't want to see it. Trust me, it happens_/ Yugi said, leaving Atem stunned and deep in thoughts.

After a couple of minutes of silence the spirit said, plain and simple: /_What?_/

"Yeah, it happens, a lot even. But until recently people preferred to let it happen than to get involved, including the police and such alike. Nowadays it's better, there is more knowledge around it."

/_What are you talking about?_/ Atem said, both annoyed and worried.

"A pedophile, a grown up sexually attracted to children", Yugi said.

"Yugi, what in the world?" Rebecca wondered and Yugi noticed that the two blondes were staring at him with a mixture of worry, surprise and disgust on their faces.

Yugi went red and put a hand on his head. "That sounded wrong, didn't it?" he asked.

Rebecca and Raphael nodded simultaneously.

"I set an example which Atem didn't get and so I had to explain what a pedophile was", Yugi explained and turned even more red.

Rebecca opened her mouth to comment but Raphael stopped her. "The issue still stands. I don't want you to leave for Hogwarts headlong into a war while I'm supposed to sit around here waiting for the wizard to arrive that is going to tell me that you're both dead!"

"Raphael, you said it yourself, Atem can end this war as soon as Voldemort shows his face! What is it you're afraid of?" Rebecca wondered stubbornly.

"Raphael is right, Rebecca. Sure, no matter how strong the wizard I could easily take him down with the help of the creatures in the shadowrealm and more importantly the Egyptian Gods", Atem said, now in control, "But every hit they take will drain my energy and even with Voldemort dead there is a strong chance that people will attack the beasts in panic. Eventually I'll be completely drained and I will be unable to do anything, Yugi is left defenseless and you are not skilled enough in magic to protect us if someone tries anything. This war could be lethal to us just as much as to anyone else. I can't stand up to the force of a hundred Rebecca, not a hundred wizards. I can take down the one major threat, but from there we can't know."

Someone chose that moment to knock on the door, cutting the low-level fight short.

"The gods are against this argument", Raphael sighed and stood up to go open.

"If it's that Sean Daniels again ..." Rebecca whispered under her breath and balled her fists.

It wasn't Sean Daniels. Raphael was followed by a tall wizard with half-moon spectacles and a long beard.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore", Rebecca said as Atem quickly relinquished control to Yugi.

"Hello Rebecca, Yugi, you have my condolences", he said. He turned his head to face Raphael and gave a small nod towards him. "You too."

"Thank you", Raphael said chilly but offered Dumbledore a place to sit.

"I'm here to talk to Yugi, I waited until the end of the holidays so you could mourn in peace but the reason I'm here is important and can't wait any longer", Dumbledore said, urging them to understand.

"The previous person who set food in this house uninvited tried to take Rebecca away", Yugi said calmly, "I can't really help that not one of us is keen on listening to another uninvited guest."

Dumbledore nodded. "I understand, about that, Raphael is now written down as Rebecca's guardian in the Hogwarts files and every other file in the Ministry of Magic. It gives him the ability to see the school and to enter the wizarding world whenever he has to go with Rebecca although I suggest he doesn't without her, preferably not at all, not in these days."

Raphael raised an eyebrow but didn't react stronger to Dumbledore's words. "Rebecca, perhaps we should let them speak in peace. I still owe you a game of chess, this time I'll beat you." With those words the two of them left the room.

When their footsteps had made their way up the stairs and out of reach for the ears of the two men Yugi spoke. "What's so important that it couldn't wait until our return to the school the day after tomorrow?" he wondered, then something shot Yugi to mind. "How come Rebecca is in the fourth year if she's sixteen?"

"Ah, an understandable question. The fifth years have to pass their OWLs and Rebecca couldn't just jump across those, they are important. At the same time it would be very hard for her to pass her OWLs with only one year worth of experience at the school so we placed her in the fourth year", Dumbledore explained.

"Okay, that's understandable, then I'll ask again: What is so important?"

"It regards Harry Potter", Dumbledore started, "You see, I fear he has a link."

"A link?" Yugi raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Yes, a link between his mind and that of the dark lord. I fear that Voldemort will use this link to possess Harry as soon as he becomes aware of its existence. With bad luck he already is aware and then all we can do is pray that he's too afraid to do anything with it", Dumbledore said, his tone low as if afraid someone would be listening in.

Yugi shook his head. "What do I have to do with that?"

"Something the spirit said, or actually did", Dumbledore explained, "He stated that he is a far better Occlumist than I am a Legilimist. When I tried to invade your mind I was brought to a place that was far from your mind, a place where he had the advantage. My plan was to have Severus teach Harry Occlumency but the dark lord is used to people trying to protect their mind like with Occlumency and much skill is required to keep him out. The spirit's method however is foreign to lord Voldemort and if Harry would be able to master it Voldemort won't know half as much as he could learn if he was able to control Harry's mind."

Atem didn't have to ask, before he could Yugi relinquished control to him.

"No wonder you fear possession so much", Atem said, "Everyone can possess anyone at all times. People can choose if they want to possess someone, how despicable. It's a dreadful state of living, the only reason me and Yugi are doing alright is through well-developed communication and patience. We must be unique to you, aren't we?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Your coexistence has often rocked everything I know about possession. I can't help but see it as a crime, a terrible disgrace."

"It is", Atem said, "and I'd do anything to give Yugi his life back, but unfortunately I can't. That possibility was taken from me. As for teaching Harry … I don't know. I don't think it's possible to teach anyone to redirect an invader to the soul-room in the first place, besides, most people would be even more exposed if they did so, if you have access to a persons soul you can change that person in the core. The reason I do is because I can trap them there forever if I feel the need, rending them powerless, often lifeless. I'll see what I can do, but don't count on anything."

Dumbledore did his best to hide a shiver but Atem noticed it nonetheless. "I don't know if I got a powerful allay or a powerful enemy when I contacted you. But I have no regrets, I couldn't let you be hunted down and killed like a deer by Lucius."

"I am the third side in this war and although the enemy of my enemy isn't necessary my friend I've got nothing against you. I might not always be fond of your methods but I understand you want what's best for the students and so do I. I've said this before and let's not take it again, your feelings of doubt are not my problem. What more is there to teaching Harry Potter, I take that there is still someone else who will attempt to learn him Occlumency the way you know it although you asked me?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Severus will."

"Those two in one and the same room? Is that such a good idea?" Atem asked and chuckled.

"Severus Snape is very good at both legillimens and Occlumency, he'll be a fine teacher", Dumbledore said full conviction but Atem held back a sigh. The headmaster wasn't telling the entire truth and the fact remained that Snape and Potter had a war going on, a war that only the two involved really understood.

"Okay, just tell me when and where. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm quite sure we all prefer to be alone at the moment and I'd like you to leave. I'm sorry I didn't offer you a drink", Atem said and gave a quick smile.

"Severus' office, starting Monday six o'clock. I trust I don't have to tell you that no one needs to know, especially not Dolores Umbridge?" Dumbledore added.

"Dumbledore, I often make mistakes", Atem said and a shadow crossed his face, "but I know when to keep my mouth shut."

* * *

><p>When Missy had taken the white cloth with its unknown content she had been disgusted by it, despite it's appearance which showed that the young man who had given it to her had taken great care of it. She had had a hard time doing her best not to wipe her hands off, which she really had wanted to. Both from the reaction of her husband and her son Missy had known that the man was harmless, despite his appearance, but Cole attracted so much weird things that Missy had become slightly paranoid when it came to her son.<p>

When she had come home she had put it on the kitchen table so careful that it could have been a bomb and to her it had felt no less dangerous. They had put everything they had bought in its place and it hadn't taken long until that little white package laid alone on the table that had suddenly felt very big.  
>Before Cole had the chance to ask about it his mother had put him to bed and wished him goodnight.<p>

With dread in her heart she had walked down the stairs. She knew she had been overreacting but for some reason that lightweight little thing she had received from a complete stranger felt ominous and most of all she wanted to throw it in the trash without ever having to know what was in it.

"Mum", her older son said when she walked into the kitchen again, "Is it true you, dad and Cole walked into Yugi Muto on the streets of London or is dad joking?"

"Not only is your dad telling the truth, Theo, but your brother also received a gift from this person you all seem to know so well but I've never heard of before", Missy sighed and sat down as she pointed at the package wrapped in the soft cloth.

"Mum, had you shown more interest in what interested me you'd have known", Theo said, jokingly. "I learned a lot from that guy and so have many others, even though he probably doesn't know that. Yugi Muto is nothing short of a legend in the dueling world."

"I don't get your fascination for that game", Missy sighed and put her head in her hands, "For some reason I feel like that thing on the table is cursed."

"Can I open it?" Theo wondered, a mixture of curiosity and expectation in his eyes, "Because mum, I think you're wrong, I think this could be part of the cure that's needed to get Cole back on his feet."

"What do you mean?" Bud asked, alarmed.

"All these weird things that happen to Cole all the time are not natural, all the weird things that happened to Yugi Muto weren't natural either. Perhaps this is a gesture meant to help, that says: I know how it feels but you'll be fine. I know you don't believe in fate, mum, but I do and this feels like it is part of something we can't quite imagine."

"You watch too much TV", was all Missy bothered to say.

Theo shook his head and carefully lifted the small package and removed the white cloth. "My God", Theo whispered, "Dad, look at this!" Theo put a pile of cards on the table. "Dark Magician, Queen's Knight, Spellbinding Circle, Celtic Guardian, Swords of Revealing Light, Magical Cylinder, Mirror Force … The gift Yugi Muto gave Cole was his deck."

"Does that mean anything?" Theo's mum asked slightly annoyed, her bad mood was strengthened by the fact that she was exhausted.

"Mum, these cards are worth a fortune each!" Theo said, "if anyone knows that these were Cole's he could get into real trouble!"

"Than we don't give them to him and throw them away", Missy said, still convinced that it was the best idea but Theo viciously shook his head.

"Mum, you can't do that! If you really want them out of the house I'll track down Ryou Bakura, Kujaku Mai or someone who knows Yugi or perhaps even Yugi himself although he doesn't want to be found. But what did he say when he gave Cole the cards?" Theo asked as he kept looking through the cards with a great deal of respect in his eyes.

"He told Cole to create something more adapted to him out of it because he wasn't going to need them again anyway", Bud said, "I stayed to talk with him after everyone left. He's an extraordinary person, a person I personally would have liked to get to know better. He seems to have experience with life."

"The hearth of the cards", Theo said and smiled, "he used to say that every duelist carefully picked their forty cards out of a thousand and if a duelist would treat those cards with respect their hearts would connect and the deck would never let its duelist down. At the same time it means that you couldn't ever duel with a deck you didn't put together yourself because your heart couldn't be in it. So the main message is that Cole should use the cards from Yugi's deck and that from his own to create something he's completely in tune with." Theo spread the cards on the table. "This is more than one deck though, I'd guess on a seventy cards at least."

"That's not Yugi's, is it?" Bud wondered and pointed at a card with a great black dragon on it, "Isn't that … eh … I forgot his name."

"It's Katsuya Jonouchi's, he died when a tomb collapsed four years ago. He and Yugi were close friends. It's not surprising Yugi held the card after Jonouchi died."

"Poor guy. Hey, I recognize those!" Missy called out surprised and pointed at three cards with great white dragons on it, "There are statues of them outside those theme parks build all over the world."

Theo nodded. "Those were Seto Kaiba's. They were the cards he treasured most. There are only four of them in the world. Seto Kaiba died in the collapse too. His younger brother survived and he sold Kaiba Corporation to Schroeder Corporation under the condition that the Von Schroeder brothers would keep the existent Kaiba lands running under the same name without disturbing the plans Seto Kaiba had made for them. Until this day the Schroeder Corporation has kept its promise, not that they should feel the need to change the theme parks, they run with steady profit just as they are. Rumor is that Seto Kaiba had made a plan to build one in Scandinavia and that Zigfried Von Schroeder does his best to have it built according to Kaiba's plans sometime next year."

"If you were equally interested in history as in this weird game than you'd make me a very satisfied mother", Missy sighed.

The three of them eventually decided that Cole should decide what to do with the cards and they were surprised by Cole's reaction. "Mum", he had said, "I don't need them, I'm satisfied with my deck as it is."

Naturally Cole and Theo had some serious brother bonding time, spending all their spare time with the cards that the King of Games himself had given the younger. "Do you see this card?" Theo could say, "It was used by Yugi during the Duelist Kingdom against Pegasus."

"What does it say?" Cole often asked since the kanji on the cards were impossible for him to understand. The consequence was that Theo would use his computer to translate each and every card.

Theo would tell colorful stories about duels which Missy didn't understand in the least but fascinated Cole. Her two sons had always been very distant from each other, they used to treat each other like strangers more than brothers but this one gift had caused the two to spent more time with each other in just a couple of days time than they had ever before. She was grateful.

One day though Cole commented one of white dragons which his mum had recognized. "The blue eyes white dragon was Kaiba's, why doesn't his brother have it?"

Theo shrugged. "I don't know. After Kaiba died Yugi received the card and he has given it to you. Do you think his brother wants it?"

Cole pouted. "If he really loved his brother he might want it, as a reminder of him. You told me that a duelist heart is in his cards, so … Seto Kaiba's heart must be in those cards, right? I'm sure he'd wish they were with his brother rather than with me, a person he doesn't know."

"Let's check up on that", Theo said and smiled, he had a vague idea where this was going. He did a search on the Blue Eyes White Dragon but the only thing he found were fanpages. Instead he did a search on Mokuba Kaiba. He whistled softly at what he found. "Hey Cole, let's go swinging", Theo said distracted. "If you go put on your warm clothes then I'll tell mum and dad were going to the playground okay."

"But, what about your friends? Won't you be ashamed of me?" Cole asked surprised but Theo shook his head. "My friends can think whatever they want. I wanna go play with my little brother."

As 'thank you' Theo received a big hug and Cole ran up the stairs. Theo's mum, who had been in the kitchen herself looked at her oldest son proudly but asked: "Why go swinging so suddenly? It's getting late."

"Mum, have a look at this", Theo said and turned the screen towards her, "Mokuba Kaiba promises a reward of one million dollars to anyone who can find a single one of his brother's Blue Eyes. I don't think Yugi knew that. Cole said he thought that Seto Kaiba's cards should be with his little brother. I want him to make up his mind in peace."

That moment Cole entered the room: "Can we go swinging?"

Missy nodded. "You two have a good time. If you want you can take some hot chocolate along."

Theo quickly made some hot chocolate as Missy helped Cole find his gloves. When they were all set and ready Cole ran out the house singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer loudly while Theo walked behind him holding the can with the warm liquid and the cups.

When Cole was done singing Theo asked: "Hey, Cole, if Kaiba's little brother would want his brothers cards, would you give them to him?"

"Yes, of course", Cole said and sat down on one of the swings. Theo put down the can and the cups and gently pushed his brother.

"Just like that?" Theo wondered.

"Naturally", Cole said, "He's the one that they know."

"You wouldn't mind parting from some of the rarest cards in the game?" Theo wondered, curios how determined his brother was to do the right thing.

Cole shook his head. "I don't like dragon cards, they're not my preference."

Theo laughed. "Not your preference, where did you learn all that fancy language, Cole?"

Cole shrugged. "I don't know, I just know it. Why do you ask me all this?"

"Because I happen to know that Mokuba Kaiba is looking for his brothers cards", Theo said.

"Then I think we should give them to him", Cole said full conviction, clearly not aware that giving something to Mokuba Kaiba meant flying across the globe.

The rest of the evening the two spent swinging, talking and drinking hot chocolate until Cole started to yawn. Then they both made their way home silently. As soon as they set foot inside Missy chased her youngest son into bed while Theo went to talk to his dad. "Hey, dad, do you think there is a possibility for me and Cole to get a trip to Japan as Christmas gift?"

"Cole wants to give those three cards to the younger brother of their original owner, doesn't he?" Bud said and sighed, "That kid always has to do the right thing. Ah, well, I'll talk to your mother about it but if she has no objections I think the family combined can give you and Cole a trip to Japan as Christmas gift. You know, Theo, someone told me I should be more open minded when it comes to the supernatural, do you agree?"

"Dad", Theo said, "I hate to break it to you, but you live in the same house as Cole, at this point what you consider unnatural you should consider as quite natural."

* * *

><p>I asked a friend: "How do you explain to a 5000 year old dead guy what a pedophile is?"<br>Answer: "No point, the person in question is dead."  
>… Yeah, helpful ...<p>

I have no idea how in the world this chapter was able to become so long. It took ages to get I started and then the words just flowed.  
>Imagine, a Kaiba Land in Scandinavia -sigh- what a dream.<p>

So next chapter, a taste of Occlumency, or lack thereof, mass breakout from Azkaban and Umbridge's new move … Yugi really does better outside Hogwarts than in it. Ah well, from here the action will increase. It's been a whole lot of sitting by and listening, as Umbridge and everyone start to make their real moves so will Yugi. Man, I've been longing for this.

Please review, otherwise I'll make sure Sean Daniels shows up at your doorstep.


	22. Memories

I have no time to write anything like this at all. It's late here but I just want to update this today. I've often told you that reviews brighten my day and it's true. I just want to wake up tomorrow with a mail account stuffed with review alerts.

Monday I'll find out if I was accepted to the school I applied to. If I'm not … Well then that sucks.

The chapter is named Memories. Ironically enough that's the song which has gotten me through the past week. Memories by EarlyRise, if you're interested.

Enjoy

* * *

><p>Raphael, Rebecca and Yugi had all traveled to England. Raphael had eventually admitted the fact that he couldn't join them in the wizarding world even though it made him gloomy. Instead he rented an apartment in London so that he could be close to them if they really needed his help. He reminded them often that they should ask him for help if the monsters from the shadows seemed to turn against them.<p>

Yugi wasn't worried about that. He had always treated his monsters with respect and he knew that Rebecca had too once she had learned her lesson. It was highly unlikely that they would join with Atem's enemies.

Silently they walked over the streets of London, this time both Yugi and Rebecca had taken precautions so they wouldn't be recognized. Yugi wore the black cape he hadn't used since the day he had arrived at Hogwarts for the first time. Rebecca wore a hoodie with the large hood hiding most of her face. Raphael calmly walked beside them, there was no risk that he'd be recognized.

It was terribly warm at King's Cross Station, unnaturally warm. Rebecca was the first to pull her hood down but Yugi was still too afraid of being recognized to risk that, instead he hurried towards the platform, eager to get outside again.

Many wizard families were waiting outside the pillar leading towards platform nine and three quarters. Many did their best to be inconspicuous … and most failed miserably. They stood out terribly and it was obvious to anyone looking more closely that those families seemed to disappear one by one. You wouldn't notice it directly as new families arrived every second.

Raphael raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said that they did their best to remain hidden."

"People tend to look around the things they don't want see", Rebecca remarked dryly.

"But still", Raphael said wide-eyed, "this is impossible to miss."

"Yeah, you bet", a boy's voice said from behind them.

"Peter!" Rebecca called out, genuinely happy to see him. She gave him a hug.

"How are you holding up Becca?" he wondered quietly.

"I'll be fine", Rebecca said, "don't mention it."

Peter frowned but nodded. "If that's what you want than I won't. If you change your mind just say so." Tactfully he turned away from Rebecca. "Professor Muto?" He looked down on the figure desperately hiding his face with the black cape. Raphael chuckled at the title, receiving a light stomp on his arm from Rebecca.

Yugi ignored his two companions and nodded. "Yes. Did you have a good holiday mister Lepard?"

"Eh ..." Peter seemed to be unwilling to answer. That moment two adults joined the group. "Rebecca, Professor Muto, these are my parents."

"Peter told us", a heavy man with untamed blonde hair said, "you have our condolences."

"Thank you", Yugi said, his voice low so he wouldn't attract too much attention.

"He did nothing else but talk about you two … when he talked at all. Peter's been gloomy during the entire holiday. He really destroyed the Christmas mood. Although I must say that I'm glad that he found a friend at all. He talks really high of you, Rebecca. You too, Professor, he says that Hogwarts never has seen a teacher which such an impact on the students."

Peter had turned all red as his mother blabbed on without thinking the least about her son. Yugi held back a harsh laugh at the woman's last words. They surely had had an impact on the students, but if it was a good one was questionable.

She continued as she turned to Raphael: "You at the other hand I've never heard about. Who are you?"

Raphael looked down on the woman with a glare that could have turned Medusa into stone. "I'm Raphael, Rebecca's guardian now that her grandfather died."

"Oh my, how nice of you. It must have come like a shock for you to find out that she was a witch. It's really good of you not to condemn her for that. It would be awful to be rejected ones legacy because of such horrible opinions."

Yugi interrupted her when he realized that she could go on quite a while. "Excuse me. I think we have to go now so we don't miss the train."

"Oh yeah, oh yeah", she just said absentmindedly, "Peter, let us know if anything interesting happens." She gave them all a huge smile and waved them off as they one by one disappeared through the wall. Raphael shook his head as he watched and Yugi knew that he wanted to follow.

"Have they absolutely no idea what's going on?" Rebecca wondered as soon as they had moved out of the way for the other people coming through the pillar.

Peter shook his head. "No, I never told them about the war. They wouldn't allow me to go to Hogwarts if they knew. I'm not the only muggle-born who doesn't tell about the war. Our parents are more easy at mind not knowing."

Yugi pulled his hood down, glad to be away from the people who'd recognize him as the King of Games. "Don't you think it's more fair on them if you told them. They should be aware of the danger which you surround yourself with so they can be prepared."

Peter shrugged. "I just don't want them to worry. Besides, I'm surprised that mum could keep it a secret that I go to a school for wizards, it'll be hard for her to keep it a secret that we're only moments away from a complete war."

"I see", Yugi said. "Now the two of you should board before you miss the train. Hurry up. I'll see you at school."

Yugi went to the teachers compartment and received condolences from several of the teachers there but mostly they left him alone and he was grateful for it.

The first Monday after the holidays passed by without much drama. There was spoken about the letter that had arrived during the Christmas feast and Yugi noticed that several students walked up to Rebecca to offer her their condolences. Yugi, too, received condolences from students during his classes but nothing happened during the day.

Yugi's teaching wasn't affected the least by the events and he taught them like he always had. He told the fifth years about the nuclear bombs and their effect on the people living in the area nowadays. He told them the story of the girl with the thousand paper cranes.

"Let me tell you a story", he told the fifth years that Monday morning, "I already told you what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I said numbers and named places. I explained to you how they work but not one of you can relate to what truly happened. Do you know why they number pigs rather than give them names on a pig farm?"

Hermione raised her hand. "So you won't get emotionally attached to them."

Yugi nodded. "The same moment you give something a name you get attached to it. It's harder to kill something with a name. When a police negotiates with someone who holds a hostage they say the name of the hostage as often as possible because an unconscious awareness of the hostages life is created in the mind of the kidnapper. It will become much harder for the kidnapper to kill his hostage. Same thing with history. None of you can relate to the impact of the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. I can tell you an approximate number on how many people died during the detonation and the next few days but it won't really mean anything to you."

Yugi walked forward until he stood among the v-formatted benches. "Still today people die from the effect the nuclear bombs had. 48% of all the deaths that occur due to leukemia is said to be the effect of the radioactive radiation that doesn't disappear. The people that were anywhere near that place didn't get old and their children are often damaged in one way or another. They are born misshapen or with psychological problems. These two bombs will affect every living thing in that area for several million years from now."

"Magic can't even do that", Millicent Bulstrode said wide-eyed.

"No, thank god it can't", Yugi said and shuddered at the thought alone. "It's partly these bombs that would make that, if there ever would be a war between wizards and muggles, muggles would win. That's something you should think about, all of you." Yugi looked Malfoy in the eyes. It hadn't been up until now that Yugi realized it. If Voldemort would make his dream come true and put every muggle at the feet of the wizards there would be an all out war, most likely including nuclear weapons.

/_People kill what they fear_/ Atem said

/_It would destroy the earth_/ Yugi said and shuddered again.

"In 1943 a girl was born in Hiroshima. She was two years old when Little Boy struck down on the twon. The girl named Sadako was at home at the moment and only a mile from ground zero. Sadako was blown out the window due to the bomb's strength. Her mother ran out to find her and miraculously enough Sadako was still alive.  
>It was said that Sadako was born to run. It was her favorite thing to do and she blew people away with her speed. Running was her dream. However on 21 February 1955 she was hospitalized and diagnosed with leukemia.<br>Sadako had a friend called Chizuko. August the same year Chizuko came with a paper crane folded from golden paper. She reminded Sadako of the ancient Japanese legend that states that the person who folds a thousand cranes will be granted one wish by the gods. The golden crane would be the first one of thousand.  
>Sadako started folding at once but soon ran out of paper. Her friends and family collected paper for her and Sadako scrounged up material from the other patients get well-gifts and medicine wrapping. Her older brother promised Sadako that he would hang every crane she made from the ceiling of her hospital chamber. The golden crane however stayed next to Sadako. She died a morning in October 1955 at the age of twelve surrounded by her family. A popular version of the story is that Sadako died having folded 644 cranes but the truth is that she folded around 1500 cranes before she died and her friends kept folding them for her after she died. Nowadays there is a statue of Sadako holding the golden crane she received from Chizuko."<p>

Most of the girls sat with tears in their eyes. Tracey leaned on Dean's shoulder but when Yugi was done she raised a hand. "Did any of your family members die due to the nuclear bombs."

Yugi shook his head. "No, not that I know off. Grandpa was in Egypt at the time working as a freelance among the archeologists. You could almost call him a tomb robber", Yugi added with a smile.

/_A tomb robber?_/ Atem wondered, having never looked at it from that point of view.

/_Well, yes, he did after all take the Millennium Puzzle from your tomb. He might not have sold it for his own gain but it is and remains robbing. Although you saved his life, perhaps grandpa took it as a sign of your approval/ _Yugi suggested.

/_I don't remember saving his life_/ Atem said slightly displeased, /_But I don't mind him taking it. Perhaps it was fate._/

/_Considering I solved the puzzle … Yeah, probably_/

"It was at older age that he actually started working with real archeologists, it's during that time that he met Arthur Hawkins, Rebecca's grandpa ..." Yugi's voice trailed of.

The sudden silence in the room was slightly awkward but Tracey broke it, more for Yugi's sake than because she wanted to know. "Then how did you meet Rebecca?"

Yugi's smile returned. "It's surprising that no one of you has asked like that earlier, you must have wondered."

Several nods came from the fifth years.

"The reason grandpa went to Egypt was because he was interested in games. He and Arthur shared a particular like for a certain card game played long ago in ancient Egypt ..."

Yugi didn't miss that Harry and Hermione exchanged a look. Yugi backed up and sat down on his desk.

"As a sign of their friendship Arthur gave grandpa his rarest card. However Rebecca wasn't aware of that story. Eight years ago Rebecca walked up to us after grandpa had been newly released from the hospital and accused him of being a thief, she herself was only eight at the time. She challenged grandpa but since he had just come from the hospital neither I nor my friends wanted him to duel. So instead I challenged Rebecca. I lost but after the game Arthur walked in and explained everything to his granddaughter. The two of them left for home not much later. Approximately two years later though Arthur made a discovery that brought him back to Japan and Rebecca went with him. We got to know each other during that time mostly, Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda and I spent that summer with Arthur and Rebecca at a lake in America." Yugi shrugged. "I guess we assumed that we'd see each other again after my friends and I left for home but then the tomb collapsed and I ran away. Rebecca attended the funerals, I did not. I'm seldom as surprised as I was when Minerva brought Rebecca into my classroom."

"You have much to tell", Dean commented with low voice.

* * *

><p>Monday evening Harry went with his feet dragging behind him to the dungeons. He was accompanied by Tracey who had to pass by Snape's office to get to her common room anyway. No one who passed them found it weird anymore to see the Slytherin girl walk with people not from her house. She was nearly always with Dean and since most people knew that Dean got along with Harry, Hermione and Ron it wasn't that odd that Harry and Tracey small talked when going in the same direction.<p>

Tracey was telling Harry that Snape wasn't such a bad teacher if you did as he told you and succeeded quickly.

"And if you don't succeed?" Harry wondered a bit sourly.

Tracey shrugged. "He's not a patient teacher, but the things he can teach are amazing. Good luck", she added as Harry reached Snape's office.

"Thanks", he said gloomy and took a deep breath before he knocked on the door and entered.

The office was shadowy and the walls were completely hidden by stuffed shelves. There were glass jars with ingredients that Harry preferably didn't think about and potions. In a cupboard in the corner there were lots of ingredients that were more commonly used in potions. On the desk stood a stone basin that Harry recognized at once as Dumbledore's pensieve.

"Shut the door behind you, Potter", Snape's cold voice said.

Hesitatingly Harry did what he was told and he felt like he stopped the last light from entering the room despite the lit candles. Snape pointed at the chair opposite his desk and they sat down.

"Well, Potter, you know why you are here", Snape said, "Although a slight adjustment has been made since our last meeting. Professor Muto will now be assisting us under our sessions."

"What?" Harry said in lack of a better way to express his surprise.

From a shadowy corner a short figure stepped into the light. "I told the headmaster not to expect too much from me, but I'll do my best."

"The headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency; I can only hope that you prove more adept at it than at potions", Snape continued, ignoring Professor Muto's words.

"Right", Harry said tersely.

"This might not be an ordinary class, Potter", Snape said and his eyes narrowed malevolently, "but I am still your teacher and you will therefore call me 'sir' or 'Professor' at all times."

Professor Muto frowned but did not comment.

"Yes … sir", Harry said to please Snape.

Harry listened closely as Snape explained what Occlumency and Legilimency were and did his best to question him on whatever he said. Harry couldn't help but notice that Professor Muto almost looked amused at the interaction between Snape and Harry himself. Despite that it was slightly annoying to be looked upon by the History teacher who stood aside in a dark corner of the room Harry mostly focused on Snape and came to one conclusion. "Voldemort can read minds?"

"You have no subtlety, Potter", Snape said, his eyes glittering. "You do not understand fine distinctions. It is one of the shortcomings that make you such a lamentable potion-maker." He took a pause before continuing. "Only muggles speak of 'mind-reading'" Snape threw Professor Muto a glare but the Japanese just returned it with a faint smile and a raised eyebrow. "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the insides of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter, or at least most minds are." Snape smirked and Professor Muto subtly put a hand over his eyes and lowered it again. Harry could only imagine how the History teacher had to feel like in this room loaded with hostility.

"It is true however that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly. The Dark Lord for instance, almost always knows when somebody is lying to him. Only those skilled at Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie, and so can utter falsehoods in his presence without detection."

That sounded like mind-reading to Harry no matter how Snape put it ... and Harry didn't like it.

Snape continued explaining the importance of being able to know Occlumency and that Voldemort now knew about the bond he shared with Harry which made that the normal rules of Occlumency didn't count. Professor Muto followed the conversation closely without saying a word.

"And he might try and make me do things? Sir?" Harry asked.

"He might", Snape said, cold and unconcerned. "Which brings us back to Occlumency."

"And more than just Occlumency", Professor Muto interrupted his colleague. "As Professor Snape already told you it's only those exceptionally skilled at Occlumency that can keep him out, for you it will be even harder considering he already has a gateway into your mind. Tell me, were you conscious of your own body when your mind entered that of the snake?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I was asleep."

Professor Muto frowned and took some steps forward. "I didn't think so. However you weren't asleep. When your mind leaves your body your body falls into a state that can be compared to sleeping, but you are awake. The danger with going into someone's mind is that you have to leave your own body. Now, your mind will be back in less than a split second if someone would harm your physical body and that's why people don't see it that way. Only the conscious parts of your mind are transferred into that of the other person because you still have a need of a breathing body and something has to keep you breathing, but you understand my point?"

Harry nodded. "I think so."

"Now, Voldemort ..." the Japanese started only to be interrupted by Snape. "Don't speak his name!" he hissed.

"I will speak his name", Professor Muto said and looked Snape in the eyes, "There is only one living creature in this world who I despise more than Voldemort and that's why I will speak his name whenever I feel the need."

Harry stared wide-eyed at the History teacher, as far as Harry knew no one but McGonagall and Dumbledore dared speaking to Snape like that.

"Alright, Voldemort is not aware of the danger that hides in leaving his own body. The reason he is not aware of that is because most people only think about protecting themselves and never considered harming him while he invades their mind."

Snape blinked and looked terrified. "Are you suggesting that you can harm a person's mind inside your own?"

Professor Muto shook his head. "No, you can't harm a person in one's mind. You can however trap a person in your own soul … if you dare."

Both Harry and Snape were staring at the Japanese in disbelieve and Harry realized that this was just as new to Snape as it was to him.

"Impossible!" Snape spat enraged.

"Not quite", Professor Muto said with a faint smile, "Picture your soul as a room. The inside of that room mirrors who you are as a person. It contains memories, it shows qualities it shows what bothers you, it is you. If you have access to a person's soul you can get to know them as well as you know yourself. People who are in deep shock tend to withdraw to their soul's room and stay there, unreachable for the outside world. Like every room it has a door and outside that door there is a hallway, the harder it is to reach to that person's soul the longer the hallway. The way that room looks changes with time just like you do yourself."

"That sounds as if you've been there", Harry said and cocked his head.

"I've been in my own", Professor Muto said quietly, "Have you ever seen your own?"

Harry shook his head. "Not that I know off."

"That's a disadvantage", the young man sighed. "Dumbledore is aware of the possibility to lock someone away within your soul's room although he does not master it himself. He hopes I can teach you to do so."

"But then how do you lock someone away?" Harry wondered curiously while Snape was still comprehending what Professor Muto had said.

"To be able to do that requires a thorough insight in how your room looks like, how large it is and where the dark corners are. When you know it that well you can start securing it against intruders, mainly by putting up traps. You should see an invading mind as a miniature version of that person, it could simplify things. Now if the intruder walks into the trap you created and you created it with some sort of skill then that person will be unable to leave, ever. Like Severus said the mind is a many-layered thing, so is your soul, that room is only the summary filled with symbolic objects to represent your core. Such a trap expels an invader to your deepest layer and they won't be able to take themselves away from there in addition to the fact that they'll be harmless. In your soul's room you have the advantage, in your mind you do not. In your mind you're at the mercy of the Legilimist."

"How do you know this?" Snape asked rather unfriendly, "Aren't you a muggle?"

"There we come to the second part that is crucial to mastering this technique", Professor Muto said, not the least bothered by Snape, "This isn't part of any wizarding magic. This is far older and should have been long forgotten."

There was a lot Harry wanted to say in that moment when the bits and pieces fell to place but he was restrained by Snape. No matter how much Harry's distrust for the History teacher had increased in the last seconds he didn't want to give him away in front of Snape.

"What exactly are you going to teach me?" Harry wondered, unable to keep the distrust out of his voice.

Professor Muto noticed it and raised an eyebrow. "Probably nothing. It craves a lot of discipline to be able to place traps in your own soul. Occlumency is your priority, if it shows you are talented in Occlumency I'm going to try to teach you how to reach your own soul. Let me warn you, today there is only one person in this world who is able to trap invaders in his soul, the likeliness of you being able to learn it is close to zero. You see, it's not magic, it's pure willpower, even muggles could do it if anyone was strong, brave and disciplined enough for it. You must realize that facing your inner self is among the most frightening things to do."

"I doubt that Potter will have the ability to learn something like that", Snape said scornful and Harry glared at him. Snape drew his wand from an inside pocket and raised it as Harry tensed. He put it against his head and drew out a silvery-white substance that neatly fell into the basin on the desk. He repeated that two times and then put the basin on a shelf out of their way without giving a hint on why he did what he was doing.

"Stand up and take out your wand, Potter", Snape commanded, "You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me or defend yourself in any way you can think of."

Harry didn't like the sound of that. "And what are you going to do?"

"I am about to break into your mind", Snape said softly, "We are going to see how well you can resist. I have been told you that you have already shown aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse. You will find that similar powers are needed for this … Brace yourself, now."

For one split second time stopped as Harry looked straight into a pair of amethyst eyes and he knew that his History teacher could see the fear in Harry's eyes. A fear coming from the knowledge that there was no chance that Harry would be able to keep Snape out, he wasn't even given time to prepare himself. And in that second a similar fear arose in Professor Muto's eyes. Harry had heard the prophecy, seen the Kas and knew more about the teacher than most of the people at Hogwarts. The fifth years had been present when Umbridge was left screaming in the forest and there was something more Harry did not want Snape to see; he just couldn't remember what it was. All these secrets would be wrecked by the bat-like man who shouted: "_Legilimens._"

Without having a chance to summon resistance images started racing before his eyes. They were like a flickering film, blinding him and so vivid that they were all he could see. It started with Dudley's new bicycle and went on to Ripper the bulldog who chased him up a tree … but then … then he saw something he couldn't recall, or actually he could now that he saw it but he had completely forgotten.

He was standing in something that seemed to be a van. For some reason everyone around him was naked, there were women, children and men, most of them were crying. Harry noticed that he himself was naked too and he too cried, he knew death was waiting for him.

How came he didn't remember this scene from his life. He knew Snape was infiltrating his memories but this wasn't one of his memories, was it?

The van started moving and although his present self did his best to remember he couldn't, it was a vague and distant memory that for some reason was crystal clear in his mind. His memory self was shaking and looking around. Children hugging their mothers or fathers, wives holding their husbands, people hugging themselves. He was shaking in fear and waited … what was he waiting for?

Carbon monoxide …

Carbon monoxide?

The same instant he remembered and his present self started to scream as his past self started to see things blurry while people sunk to the ground one by one while others screamed and desperately tried to get out. But no one of them would get out, they would choke or be poisoned by the carbon monoxide.

The flickering film did however not stop with that image. It went from one little bit of memory to the next. He watched as Neville was taken away by soldiers and shot while everyone was watching because he opposed them … Tracey taking care of a small child burning with fever … Harry saw soldiers walk up to him as he was surrounded by houses with smashed windows and dead bodies laying around him. One soldier raised his gun and then the image went black as he heard a loud BANG … He saw himself taking a pair of scissors and started to cut the long hair of an unknown woman while next to him Ron did the same thing to Hermione without reacting at all …

And then he saw the thing that shocked Harry most of all. He himself was laying on the ground, giving the images a weird kind of angle, he had never been so tired before, all he had to do was close his eyes. Dead people laid in piles around him, covering almost every inch of the ground. The soldiers were nowhere to be seen, they seemed to have vaporized. Then a moving person entered Harry's vision. Even with an image as unclear as that one there was no doubt who roamed the field of corpses. Walking slowly, arms hanging at his side, was no one less but Professor Muto himself, although something was different about him, he looked taller and his posture was more self-assured even though his shoulder hung with sorrow. He didn't seem to be aware of the fact that Harry was still alive but when he came closer the young man bent down and took Harry's hand. When Harry looked up he stared straight into a pair of crimson eyes.

"Aaahh!" he screamed and a sharp pain went through his knee. The office reappeared and Harry was on the floor, tears streaming down his face and breathing heavily as the memories of what he had seen partly returned. They didn't make sense to him as he died in them several times and people he knew died more than once too, but it didn't matter, what mattered were the feelings, the fear and the horror.

"What was that?" Snape demanded to know slowly with horror in his voice.

"Did … did you see what I saw?" Harry asked, not even doing an attempt to get of his knees but covering his face with his hands.

"Most of it", Snape said, his hands shaking. "You lost control."

Harry removed his hands and looked at Professor Muto who was standing frozen in the very same corner as in which he started. His eyes were amethyst as always and he, too, had tears in them. Snape was also looking at the young teacher and Harry stood up, still staring into the eyes of his History teacher. He had no idea what was going on but Harry was quite sure that the person in front of him could tell him that. Then Harry looked at Snape who seemed equally shocked by the memories he had found in his student's mind as the student had been himself.

To Harry everything appeared to be very distant, as if he was looking at the two frozen men from behind thick glass, not entirely clear. He started shaking his head as he walked backwards, reaching out with his hand to find the doorknob without having to let go of the room with his gaze. "I … I ..." Harry couldn't find words and shook his head viciously to get rid of all the memories that were tumbling into his brain without caring about any kind of chronological order.

"Go."

Harry turned around and opened the door as quickly as he could. When he slammed it shut behind him he saw Professor Muto, sliding down to the floor with his back against the wall before the black door took him away from Harry's vision like a wild animal devouring its prey.

* * *

><p>There is no record of what happened in the gasvans, understandable since no one survived, with some few exceptions when a van broke down but those people were shot, so I didn't really know how to describe it.<p>

The story about Sadako was a book I read. I found it alone on a shelf in my English classroom and since I was done with my assignments. It's a true story.  
>My teacher for Spanish is a little bit like Yugi is when teaching. He tends to tell a lot about before he moved to Sweden. He has lots to tell, it's really interesting and just like me he thinks of Sweden as a sort of paradise.<p>

Despite my rather unorthodox upload the last time I hope I'll be getting reviews in the same style as I did before that, they still make my day. :-)


	23. Hysteria

I would have updated sooner … hadn't it been for Death Note.  
>Never in my life have I been captured by a story like I was captured by Death Note. Weirdly enough it's Little Kuriboh who got me to read Death Note in the first place and actually that's just weird.<p>

Anyway, I spend all my time reading Death Note, I started Thursday the 12th at 8 o'clock and kept reading till 2 in the morning. I was done last Tuesday. Pretty quick reading …

It's still snowing here … Can you believe it. Last Wednesday I couldn't get to school because there was too much snow for us to drive.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

><p>Dumbledore had expected that Severus would show up with something to say about his lessons with Harry. What Snape had to say was however nothing close to what Dumbledore had anticipated.<p>

Severus stormed into the office without bothering to knock, something out of the ordinary for the man, holding the pensieve. Dumbledore looked up and was about to comment Severus' rather inappropriate entrance when he saw the expression on the face of the former death-eater.

"Merlin's beard, what happened?" Dumbledore asked, stood up and hurried towards Severus.

Snape opened his mouth to explain several times but he wasn't able to form a single word. Never in his live had he seen such memories and he couldn't understand how Potter had gotten those memories in the first place. Snape wouldn't say he hadn't enjoyed watching the bulldog chase the student into a tree but the rest of those memories ... No, they weren't the least enjoyable.

What confused Snape most was that Potter had been equally shocked by the memories Snape had discovered. The teen had been thoroughly shaken and close to a break-down. Snape wondered slightly what Potter was up to now.

"Severus, sit down!" Dumbledore commanded from far away. "Drink some water." The head master handed him a glass.

Severus drank as if his life depended on it. He drained the glass in a couple of seconds and received a new glass which he drank equally fast. When he put the second glass on one of the spindly-legged tables he had gathered himself, Severus was not the one to be overwhelmed by panic for a long time, in fact he thrived when everyone else panicked.

"Dumbledore", Severus said, his voice indicating that he had retrieved his calm self, "I don't know what happened, but you should know about it anyway. I think it's best just to watch it." With those words he lifted his wand to his head and put a memory in the pensieve.

Dumbledore frowned but did not question Severus' request. Instead they bend over, first Dumbledore, then Severus and were sucked into the fresh memory. Dumbledore landed in Severus office next to the Severus in the corner of the room. Professor Muto was standing in the doorway, oblivious to the two spectators of the scene. For some reason Dumbledore knew that if the spirit possessing the teacher would have addressed him he wouldn't even have been surprised … but then again, it was a memory so there was technically speaking no chance that something like that would happen.

"Professor Dumbledore requested me to come", the young man said and closed the door behind him.

"Yes, so he told me", Severus said and sounded slightly hostile.

Professor Muto didn't react on his colleague's tone. Instead he looked around, clearly intrigued by the things he saw. It was in moments like those that Dumbledore wished he could see the Wizarding world from an outsiders point of view too, the wonder and curiosity in their eyes was unmatched by anything else Dumbledore knew.

"What exactly does he want you to do?" memory Severus asked the Japanese, hiding his curiosity with more hostility.

"You two get along well", Dumbledore remarked and received a snort as reply from the black-haired man next to him.

"Only the impossible", Professor Muto said with a smile as he walked to a shelf and let his eyes trail over the glass jars with slimy bits of animals. "But I'm going to try anyway."

When Professor Muto reached the end of the shelf and was shrouded by the darkness in the corner of the room a person knocked on the door. Harry came in carefully and clearly did not noticed the History teacher in the dark corner of the room as he shut the door behind him.

"Well, Potter, you know why you are here", memory Severus said while Dumbledore listened attentively, "Although a slight adjustment has been made since our last meeting. Professor Muto will now be assisting us under our sessions."

"What?" Harry called out in a way that amused the headmaster.

From the dark corner in which Professor Muto had been standing a small figure entered the light and Dumbledore noticed how short the Japanese actually was. The intimidating and aggressive attitude he had towards Dumbledore made that the headmaster never had really seen it before "I told the headmaster not to expect too much from me, but I'll do my best", Professor Muto said with his back turned towards the two observers.

"The headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency; I can only hope that you prove more adept at it than at potions", memory Severus said on which Dumbledore commented: "You know, positive motivation is proven to work better than negative motivation."

"Not for me", Severus said dryly, watching the scene closely.

"Right", memory Harry said tersely.

"This might not be an ordinary class, Potter", Severus said and his eyes narrowed malevolently, "but I am still your teacher and you will therefore call me 'sir' or 'Professor' at all times."

"Yes … sir", Harry said and Dumbledore noticed the passive annoyance in the student's voice.

Dumbledore didn't comment on the things he saw although his attention was at it's very pitch when Professor Muto began explaining. "Tell me, were you conscious of your own body when your mind entered that of the snake?"

Harry shook his head and Dumbledore leaned forward, he wished he could take notes. "No, I was asleep."

Professor Muto was still standing with his back towards the two observers and when he took some steps towards Harry Dumbledore followed so he wouldn't miss a word. "I didn't think so. However you weren't asleep. When your mind leaves your body your body falls into a state that can be compared to sleeping, but you are awake. The danger with going into someone's mind is that you have to leave your own body. Now, your mind will be back in less than a split second if someone would harm your physical body and that's why people don't see it that way. Only the conscious parts of your mind are transferred into that of the other person because you still have a need of a breathing body and something has to keep you breathing, but you understand my point?"

Harry nodded. "I think so."

"This is fascinating", Dumbledore breathed, "Though this couldn't be what shook you so much, can it?"

Severus shook his head. "No, it was not. Although even this was quite … morbid."

"Now, Voldemort ..." Professor Muto started only to be interrupted by Severus. "Don't speak his name!" he hissed.

"I will speak his name", Professor Muto said, turned around and looked memory Severus in the eyes, "There is only one living creature in this world who I despise more than Voldemort and that's why I will speak his name whenever I feel the need."

"Do you know who he is talking about?" Dumbledore asked Severus, his gaze fixed on the bat-like man.

"Is he talking about Lucius Malfoy?" Severus suggested quietly. It would hardly surprise the potion-master if that was the case.

"I believe so", the headmaster confirmed with a sober expression, "he is even more of a tortured soul than I thought to begin with. Tell me, Severus, do you dislike him like you wanted to?"

Severus shook his head. "No, at least I didn't until this, now I don't know." With those cryptic words he went silent and turned his concentration back on the man they had been talking about.

"Alright, Voldemort is not aware of the danger that hides in leaving his own body. The reason he is not aware of that is because most people only think about protecting themselves and never considered harming him while he invades their mind."

"That's genius!" Dumbledore called out, almost sounding like a little girl and confirming what Percy had said four years ago that indeed, Dumbledore was slightly mad. "It's a surprise I've never thought of that."

"Are you suggesting that you can harm a persons mind inside your own?" memory Severus asked and the disgusted and horrified expression on his past and present self were identical.

Professor Muto shook his head, somewhat to Dumbledore's disappointment. "No, you can't harm a person in ones mind. You can however trap a person in your own soul … if you dare."

"Impossible!" Severus spat enraged while the present him shook his head. Dumbledore was beyond words and didn't comment anymore. Instead he sat down in the chair behind Severus' desk and listened fascinated.

"Not quite", Professor Muto said with another faint smile, "Picture your soul as a room. The inside of that room mirrors who you are as a person. It contains memories, thing that really bother you, often unconscious. If you have access to a persons soul you can get to know them as well as you know yourself. People who are in deep shock tend to withdraw to their soul's room and stay there, unreachable for the outside world. Like every room it has a door and outside that door there is a hallway, the harder it is to reach to that persons soul the longer the hallway. The way that room looks changes with time just like you do yourself."

"That sounds as if you've been there", Harry said and cocked his head. Dumbledore had to agree, but than again, no one else but Dumbledore knew that Yugi Muto on occasion was forced to that place by the spirit of the puzzle. Although Dumbledore had assumed that Yugi would be forced to the outskirts of his mind, not to his soul. At least now he knew what the two doors had been when he tried to invade the teachers mind.

"I've been in my own", Professor Muto said quietly and Dumbledore snorted. Severus looked at his employer but did not comment. "Have you ever seen your own?" the Japanese asked the student.

Harry shook his head. "Not that I know off."

"That's a disadvantage", the young man sighed. "Dumbledore is aware of the possibility to lock someone away within your soul's room although he does not master it himself. He hopes I can teach you to do so."

"Did you?" Severus wondered and Dumbledore nodded. "Yes I knew."

"Why didn't you master it?" Severus wondered, knowing the headmaster's thirst for skill and ability.

"I only learned about it recently from the very man you see standing before you. I never considered asking him to teach me. In addition to that, I'm not sure if I really want to."

"But then how do you lock someone away?" Harry wondered curiously while memory Severus still was comprehending what Professor Muto had said.

"I wish I could write this all down", Dumbledore sighed.

"You can keep the memory, I have little desire of it", Severus said with a voice filled with bitterness. He could tell Dumbledore was pleased but also troubled by those words.

"To be able to do that requires a thorough insight in how your room looks like, how large it is and where the dark corners are. When you know it that well you can start securing it against intruders, mainly by putting up traps. You should see an invading mind as a miniature version of that person, it could simplify things. Now if the intruder walks into the trap you created and you did it with some sort of skill then that person will be unable to leave, ever. Like Severus said the mind is a many-layered thing, so is your soul, that room is only the summary filled with symbolic objects to represent your core. Such a trap expels an invader to your deepest layer and they won't be able to take themselves away from there in addition to the fact that they'll be harmless. In your soul's room you have the advantage, in your mind you do not. In your mind you're at the mercy of the Legilimist."

"How do you know this?" memory Severus asked rather unfriendly, "Aren't you a muggle?"

"Even though you might not dislike him like you wanted to, at least Professor Muto thinks that you do", Dumbledore remarked, then sighed, "Though I guess it's crucial for you to treat him that way if our plan wants to succeed."

Severus just made a disapproving sound.

"There we come to the second part that is crucial to mastering this technique", Professor Muto said while he to Dumbledore's delight ignored Severus, "This isn't part of any wizarding magic. This is far older and should have been long forgotten."

"What exactly are you going to teach me?" Harry wondered and Dumbledore noticed the distrust, he wondered if it was a good or bad thing.

Professor Muto noticed it too, the headmaster was sure of it, but he didn't react on that either. "Probably nothing. It craves a whole lot of discipline to be able to place traps in your own soul. Occlumency is your priority, if it shows you are talented in Occlumency I'm going to try to teach you how to reach your own soul. Let me warn you, today there is only one person in this world who is able to trap invaders in his soul, the likeliness of you being able to learn it is close to zero. You see, it's not magic, it's pure willpower, even muggles could do it if anyone was strong, brave and disciplined enough for it. You must realize that facing your inner self is among the most frightening things to do."

To Dumbledore that was something like a slap in the face. His own soul room was a mystery to him. Despite that he was certain that he wouldn't enjoy seeing it, he was afraid to find something that wasn't quite consistent with the way he thought of himself, or most importantly, something that_ did _fit in with his own thoughts on himself. Ariana … he was sure she'd be all over the place. He shook his head to lose the thoughts but couldn't get rid of the unpleasant feeling that had a hold of him.

"I doubt that Potter will have the ability to learn something like that", Severus said scornful and Harry glared at him. Memory Severus drew his wand from an inside pocket and raised it as Harry tensed. Severus put it against his head and drew out a silvery-white substance that neatly fell into the basin on the desk.

Dumbledore noticed that the present day Severus next to him tensed too, whatever Severus wanted to show the headmaster, it would come soon.

"Stand up and take out your wand, Potter", memory Severus commanded, "You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me or defend yourself in any way you can think of."

"And what are you going to do?"

"I am about to break into your mind", Severus said softly, "We are going to see how well you can resist. I have been told you that you have already shown aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse. You will find that similar powers are needed for this … Brace yourself, now."

"Look closely, I do not know how this will appear to us", Severus said. He had never been in the memory of someone preforming Legilimens and it would have been interesting to see hadn't his discoveries been so gruesome.

"I have seen something like this. We will be transported into what you saw … though we'll see it the way you saw it and not the way it was, it does tend to suffice", Dumbledore assured the teacher.

Suddenly the two of them were standing in Little Whinging and Harry's cousin was riding a red bike with a huge smile while Harry was looking with an odd expression on his face. They were both very young, five or so. Less than a second later they were standing in the garden, Harry, only slightly younger than when he entered Hogwarts, was running as if his life depended on it and climbed into a tree with surprising agility. Dumbledore couldn't help but wonder why until a bulldog ran through his incorporeal body. Next to Severus and the headmaster the Dursleys were laughing. Both scenes had been bright, a sign that Severus had enjoyed watching them.

Than the scene went dark…

* * *

><p><em>MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT<em>

_FOR OLD DEATH EATERS_

_The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout_ _from Azkaban. _

_Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic,_ _confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday_ _evening and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous_ _nature of these individuals. _

"_We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half_ _years ago when the murderer Sinus Black escaped", said Fudge last night. "Nor do we_ _think the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help,_ _and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban, would_ _be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these_ _individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as_ _their leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals, and we beg the_ _magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these_ _individuals be approached."_

Yugi ripped the paper in two and threw the shreds of it into the fire. It was a nice way to start a new day. That Tuesday morning Yugi hadn't bothered joining the other teachers for breakfast in the Great Hall, instead he had asked Dobby for some breakfast. The last thing he wanted was to be confronted by either Snape or Dumbledore.

Yugi was convinced that Snape had talked to the headmaster, it would have been the logical choice considering the situation. Yugi hadn't required anything more but their reactions to know what they had seen. He had just slipped to the ground when he realized what had happened, Snape hadn't bothered about him but just stormed out his office. After half an hour or so Yugi had gathered himself and left.

Atem had spent the rest of the evening lost in thought and had occasionally started shaking. The spirit's own PTSD was driving them both insane. Atem had tried to gather himself several times but every time he had just fallen back into thoughts.

Yugi had asked Atem to tell him but the former pharaoh had refused. He would under no circumstance tell Yugi exactly what had happened that one atrocious hour, Yugi had no need of more nightmares than he already had.

The result was that both Atem and Yugi had a poor night. That morning Yugi was as tired as he had been the night before and he did not look forward to starting class that morning, especially not since the first class he had included Rebecca. She'd notice at once that something was wrong and knowing the blonde she wouldn't give up until he had told her what it was that troubled him.

Neither Yugi's nor Atem's day was brightened by the front page of the daily prophet. The fact that Voldemort had retrieved ten of his Death Eaters hardly made things better for them.  
>Antonin Dolohov ...Augustus Rookwood … Bellatrix Lestrange<br>All of them ruthless killers who had now escaped. Free to kill whoever they wanted again.

Yugi couldn't help but think about the faces of his friends who had been murdered by this gang. Indirectly perhaps, but Lucius Malfoy was one of them and thus these murderers were as bad as Lucius was. All these names, all the blood they had on their hands, among those Joeys, Teas and Tristans.

Yugi's eyes narrowed. He'd get his revenge, he just had to wait for the right opportunity, this morning they had come one step closer to a war and as soon as that war started he'd make his next move.  
>The only problem was Rebecca. Yugi wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to her, he had lost too many friends already. He had counted on being able to act alone, but Rebecca tied him to Hogwarts. He sighed and walked towards the window. Staring at the snow-covered grounds he whispered, "Lucius Malfoy will die, one way or another."<p>

Atem watched his lighter silently. He too wanted revenge, but it was saddening to see Yugi like this, even four and half a year later.

Then something came Yugi to mind. "Sirius Black, the most wanted man in Britain", he suddenly said

/_Yeah_/ Atem said, /_That's what Rebecca told us_/

Yugi nodded. "Yes indeed, but Rebecca had her suspicion on the Prophet's words not being entirely true. In fact I think she thinks it's a cover up, Ginny Weasley reacted when Peter stated that he's the worst mass murderer of all times. What do you think about Sirius Black?"

Atem was grateful for the change of topic and grabbed onto it with both hands. /_I don't know. Though I think Ginny is trustworthy. What do you know about the Weasley's? What they are like could make a great factor in my judgment on Sirius Black, if they were Death Eaters than I suppose it doesn't really matter_/

"Not much more about them as about any other family, apparently mr Weasley worked on the Ministry and was attacked during a night-shift. Rebecca said however that all the Weasley's are in the DA, something that for me speaks in their favor."

/_But you don't believe the Prophet?_/ Atem asked.

Yugi shook his head and dug his hands in his pockets as he strolled away from the window. "No, I'm not convinced. The Mininstry refuses to admit that Lord Voldemort is back and they probably just use Black as a cover-up. I wouldn't know if what he's convicted for is accurate or not though. We can only speculate and right here and now speculations are useless."

Atem nodded. /_I suppose so. I, too, don't know what to think about this article or Black himself._/

* * *

><p>When Rebecca entered the History classroom she and most of the other students received a shock. The door towards Professor Muto's office was gone and so was the door from the office to his room. Rebecca was quite certain that the door from Yugi's room to the hallway was gone too as she had a suspicion to why the doors had vanished.<p>

When they all sat on their respective place Ginny raised a hand. "Professor, sorry for asking, but what happened to the doors?"

Yugi blushed in a way Rebecca rarely saw him do nowadays but which had been quite common before. He put a hand on his head and sort of shrunk, making him even shorter than he already was. "Eh, I lost my key and the doors wouldn't open without it", he confessed.

Rebecca blinked and for a second the entire room was silent. Than they all burst out laughing until they cried. That was something Yugi hadn't taken in account when giving up his deck.

Yugi blushed even more. "As soon as I find some blankets I'm going to hang them where the doors were previously. I appreciate if you couldn't make too much fun of me."

"Our lips are sealed, Professor", a Gryffindor said and the effect was some more laughing.

Yugi straightened himself and retrieved his serious expression, now it was time to learn, but Rebecca could tell that he didn't really have his focus on the lecture and eventually he just gave up, something very unlike Yugi. When less than half of the time had passed he dismissed them. Rebecca knew that the students blamed it on the death of her grandfather that Yugi was so out of it, but she knew that something more was going on.

When she packed her things slowly Yugi shook his head and made a gesture towards the door. Clearly she was being dismissed, she scowled but did not protest. Instead she joined Peter, Ginny and Luna as they left the classroom.

Having been focusing on Yugi more than on Ginny Rebecca hadn't noticed that the Gryffindor was acting slightly strange. "What's wrong?" she asked the red-head quietly so she wouldn't attract the attention of Peter and Luna who were discussing loudly in front of them about something Rebecca couldn't even pronounce.

"Nothing", Ginny said, a smile snapping into place, "How so?"

"Because you look so thoughtful", Rebecca said and looked Ginny in the eyes, "Is something wrong?

Ginny shook her head and the fake smile stayed into place. "What should be wrong?"

"You are a terrible liar", Rebecca sighed and pulled her little red bag which contained her cards back into place.

"Well, you won't ever tell me what's in that red bag of yours. It's so red that it's impossible to miss and you never let go of it but you won't ever tell what's in it", Ginny retorted, trying the offense rather than the defense.

"Old memories", Rebecca said silently, "But then again, I don't lie about its content I just don't tell you. You are the one lying."

"Fine, I just don't want to tell you", Ginny said and took a turn, heading to the Gryffindor common room. During Herbology Ginny didn't talk to Rebecca and was in an unusual dark mood, so where many of the other Gryffindors Luna pointed out when they left the class.

Luna, Peter and Rebecca kept exchanging theories on why the Gryffindors were behaving so oddly but none of them could find anything that brought the mood down this much. Surely the mood in the entire school had been low and only Rebecca knew that it was very much due to Yugi but she couldn't connect the recent circumstances to her old friend now. Overnight the mood of the Gryffindors had faltered to an immense degree and it was almost as if they were waiting for something.

"It feels a little bit like my first year", Luna said dreamily as if she was looking back at a period she missed, "When the basilisk was loose and tried to kill the students."

Peter shuddered. "Now that was a scary period. And that in your first year, couldn't have been worse. Especially for those like me."

"Now hold on a minute", Rebecca said annoyed, "Stop talking in riddles and tell me what happened."

"Four years ago a basilisk was loose in the school's pipe system. The basilisk was hidden in a secret chamber in the school by Salazar Slytherin so it would keep the school pure", Luna said with a smile Rebecca found inappropriate, although she was use.

"Pure?" she wondered.

Peter nodded with a grave expression. "Salazar Slytherin's opinion was that only pure-blood wizards and witches should be allowed to enter the school but the other founders disagreed and even half-bloods and muggle-borns were allowed into the school. Salazar Slytherin was furious and entrusted his heir with the possibility of opening the chamber of secrets and unleash the basilisk on the school, that basilisk would kill each and every muggle-born it could find simply by looking a person in the eyes. Luckily enough no one died but it was close. At it's peak a students was taken into the chamber."

"Who?" Rebecca wondered, this was something completely new to her. She guessed it was one of the reasons why the Ministry thought the standards at Hogwarts were falling.

"Ginny Weasley", Luna said calmly, "Harry saved her though. He can speak parseltongue so he could get himself into the chamber."

"Parseltongue?" Rebecca wondered, still shocked by the news.

"Yeah, the language of snakes. You-Know-Who can speak it too and so did Salazar Slytherin, that's why many thought it was Harry who commanded the basilisk but it was not. Let's just put it this way, what they could hide from the students they kept hidden", Peter said slightly grumpy. "We never found out what happened, not really."

"Then what do you mean by things feeling the way they did your first year?" Rebecca pushed on, "What's the similarities, for surely there is no basilisk roaming the pipes now?"

Luna shook her head. "If it did we would have known, although they told us it was killed. When the basilisk attacked students it failed to kill. Someone saw him through a camera, someone through a mirror, someone it's reflection in a pool of water and someone even saw him through a ghost. Those people didn't die but were turned into stone. They were cured with Mandrake root, but still, students were turned to stone one by one and for all of them it had been plain luck that they hadn't died. The fear was constant and everything was falling apart, now things are also falling apart too, for better or for worse."

"I see", Rebecca whispered, "For better or for worse."

"We're simply scared", Peter said, "And now something fell apart among the Gryffindors, whatever it is it shook them pretty badly."

"There is only one person we can ask, luckily enough that person is walking behind us", Rebecca stated with low voice. Naturally the caused Peter to look behind him and Rebecca buried her face in her hands. "Could you be more obvious?"

Collin was walking behind them facing the floor, his camera which he always had with him was hanging loosely at his side. He had an unnatural sombre look over him.

"Collin", Rebecca said with a soft voice and the Gryffindor looked up, "What's going on? Why is everyone so gloomy?"

"It's … It's Harry", he whispered, "Something is wrong with him."

"What do you mean with wrong?" Peter wondered alarmed.

"Last night he returned to the common room in shock. He wouldn't tell anyone what happened, Ron and Hermione were in the library at the time and Katie Bell went to get them. Harry had gone into his dorm and although Dean and Neville followed after him he wouldn't talk to them. When Dean suggested that they'd go to the hospital wing Harry protested and told them that madam Pomfrey couldn't possibly do anything to help him. When Hermione and Ron came they send everyone out of the dorm, something Dean had already started doing before they arrived. According to Seamus all Harry did all night was sit on his bed and stare, he hadn't slept at all and he refused to leave his position for breakfast", Collin told them. Then, before they could ask anything else, he walked away from them.

"So that's why Ginny has been acting strange all day", Peter concluded. "I wonder what happened. The fifth years have been acting strange for quite a while now, you both remember that Monday on which half of the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins ended up in the hospital wing. I wonder if it is connected."

Realization dawned upon Rebecca. Of course the two were connected, why would Yugi otherwise have been acting so strangely. Though according to Atem none of the students would have been able to consciously remember what had happened to them, had something changed that?

* * *

><p>After lunch Hermione and Ron made their way up to the dorm only to find Harry still sitting there, he hadn't even reacted on the fact that the prophet was blaming his godfather for the mass breakout from Azkaban.<p>

Hermione had on Harry's request not told Dumbledore about anything and so had the rest of the Gryffindors. Not one of them had informed a single teacher about Harry's worrisome condition. Naturally every teacher had asked but they had just been silent and refused to answer the teacher's questions.

Their friend hadn't said a thing since last night and then he had just told them that no one should know. He didn't specify anything, he just kept repeating no one should know. It wasn't hard for Ron and Hermione to figure out that something had gone wrong when Harry was with Snape to learn Occlumency but no matter how often they asked Harry wouldn't answer a single of their questions.

After they had accompanied their friend the entire lunch-break the two left for Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione had barely made it out of the common room before she started sobbing uncontrollably on Ron's shoulder. The tall teen wasn't quite comfortable with that since he was uncertain what to do but simply held Hermione until she was done crying.

"We'll solve this Hermione", he whispered, "No matter what happens, we will solve this."

Hermione nodded and gave some sort of smile through her tears. "First lets go to class, Hagrid will wonder if we don't show up."

Umbridge hadn't changed a bit. Now that Hagrid was on probation she was present at every single one of Hagrid and Trelawney's classes. She was just as horrible as she had been before, Professor Muto had told them that what he had done could have been the most important turnpike in her life. It hadn't been.

When Hagrid started the class and Harry hadn't shown up Umbridge directly started questioning everyone on Harry's whereabouts. The Gryffindors were silent as the grave and not even Malfoy made stupid comments on Harry's sudden disappearance.  
>Umbridge soon became angry with them but there was little she could do about their silence, instead she just made many notes on her clipboard and glared at them.<p>

After dinner Hermione waited an hour or so, then told Ron and Harry goodnight and left the boy dorms. Harry had only said one sentence that entire time: "Don't you remember?" It had been directly aimed at Ron and Hermione and it had been the last drop for her. She had to know what had happened.

Thus instead of going to bed as she had told Ron she slipped out of the common room. It wasn't after hours yet but most of the school was deserted anyway, everyone was either in their common rooms or in the library thus Hermione made her way to Snape's office unseen. She knocked with an unusual amount of force without stopping until Snape yelled at her to come in.

He was surprised to say the least to see Hermione Granger standing in his office. Her expression was a mixture of fear, anger and despair and Snape knew why she was there, nonetheless he waited until the Gryffindor spoke.

"What the hell happened here last night?" she asked with her tears in her voice.

Snape closed his eyes. He could be unfriendly to her as he always was but for this once he didn't really feel like that. Snape had only once in his life seen something more shocking than the memories of the boy he had sworn to protect.  
>He considered Dumbledore's words and thought for a very long time before he answered. "What happened was something neither I nor Potter expected. An unforeseen complication because like this there is no possibility for Potter to learn what he is supposed to learn."<p>

"That's no answer", Hermione spat, "Harry's in a heavy shock since last night and he hasn't improved at all! He asked me if I didn't remember? Remember what? I know he was here to learn Occlumency, so what is it he remembers that terrified him to that point?"

"I've never seen such horrible memories before. They weren't supposed to be there, they are not natural. I have no idea what they are but considering their content it is not surprising that Potter is in a certain need of psychological counseling", Snape said rather uncaring but Hermione looked him straight in his eyes and he sighed. "Even I was shocked after seeing them."

"What do you mean with 'they are not natural, sir?" she asked.

"I believe for that answer you shouldn't be here. You were in his memories, you should have them too", Snape said as if he just had received a brilliant idea.

"I don't know, sir, I have no memories which I could call traumatic", Hermione said, uncertain about where this was heading.

Snape nodded. "Yes, I know. That very same thing counted for Potter, he didn't recall those memories first after I pulled them from his unconscious. Perhaps you too have forgotten them."

"In that case I'd like to know them", Hermione said with a distant tone, searching her memory.

"Do you really? You've seen what they did to Potter. Do you think you can stand it?" Snape wondered skeptical.

Hermione shrugged. "They could explain things that I don't understand. Things I've been wondering about for a long time now. The consequences I'll have to deal with."

"Don't you want to know more first?" Snape wondered.

"Anything you can tell me, sir, I just hadn't expected you to say a thing", Hermione answered bluntly.

"Dumbledore and I think they have something to do with the behavior of the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. According to Professor McGonagall and Flitwick that odd behavior started a couple of months ago after a particular class, a class taught by Professor Muto. I wonder, do you know which one I mean?"

Hermione just nodded. She both did and didn't remember the lecture he had given them that day. It was vague and something was wrong about it. She knew that everyone had changed that day, and not just a little either. Neville was braver, Dean was more helpful, Parvatti wasn't as shallow any longer and Lavender less self-absorbed. The Slytherins had changed too, Malfoy was less condescending and Tracey had grown more self-assured. The changes had been radical but somehow they had just passed by for Hermione, she wondered how she had changed.

"I thought so", Snape said with a grim expression, "What I suspected was confirmed by Potter's memories. Muto is part of whatever those memories are, most likely the reason they came to exist at all. Taking in account what happened to Umbridge I can conclude that Professor Muto might quite possibly be dangerous, to the students, the teachers and the entire school."

"How did you know Professor Muto was involved in what happened to Umbridge?" Hermione wondered shocked. Had someone leaked the information?

"You did, just now", Snape said with a rather pleased smile and Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Don't worry though. Dumbledore talked to Yugi Muto before Christmas already and he willingly confessed that he was the reason to Umbridge's condition although he refused to say exactly what happened. You know that though, don't you."

"She got what she deserved", Hermione bit back, more mad at herself than at Snape.

"I'm sure she did", Snape said quietly, he didn't like the pink-clad woman either and had been quite pleased to see her being carried into the castle in a state of complete hysteria. "I'm also sure you know that there is more to Professor Muto than meets the eye?" Snape didn't require anything else than the Gryffindor's reaction to see that he had hit bulls-eye. "Dumbledore informed me that there was a certain power in the young man who so desperately seeks revenge. I wonder how much the Professor told you?"

"He told us about his friends who were killed by a Death Eater and that he came here because Dumbledore was afraid that he'd get killed if that Death Eater found out he was being hunted", Hermione said quickly, slightly too quick.

Snape nodded. "You and Dumbledore both know something that you're not telling me. It does however not matter. If it did Dumbledore would have told me. Has Potter told you that Professor Muto is supposed to teach him a special sort of defense against Legilimens?"

Hermione shook her head fiercely. "That shouldn't be possible!"

"Yes, that's what I thought. Although I think trying to teach someone Occlumency when they have such a damaged mind seems rather pointless. He must master his emotions first and I doubt that he's going to come within ten meters from Professor Muto any time soon considering the things that man has done to Potter and perhaps all of the students in that particular class."

"What about you, sir, what's your opinion on Professor Muto?" Hermione asked boldly, having never felt like this before in Snape's presence. Usually she found Snape unfair and somewhat mean but now she didn't feel any of these negative feelings towards him.

"I don't know", Snape said and retrieved his condescending mask. "Was there anything else you wanted to know miss Granger?"

"I just came here to find out what happened to Harry", she said, troubled about what she had heard. It was indeed true that something odd had happened during that class, she had never reflected over it, but it was true. She just didn't know what it was. "Professor, if there are memories in my head which I can't recall, I'd wish to change that."

"Are you asking me to help you retrieve those memories?" Snape asked, hiding his admiration for the Gryffindor's courage.

"If it's not too much trouble, yes please", Hermione whispered.

"It's done in a matter of seconds. But there is a good chance you'll become hysteric. I will not take responsibility for your choice", he said in his usual emotionless voice.

"Give me a second", Hermione said and started writing down everything she thought she would need. Everything Professor Muto had told her about himself and the Pharaoh, about the monsters, what had happened to Umbridge and Harry, her conversation with Snape just now and wrote it down in a way that she hoped would help her through a possible hysteria. She already felt sorry for Ron but she reminded herself that this could be essential to the great riddle. When she was done she put the parchment in her pocket and held her hand there. "I'm ready", she said, "I want to know if I've got such memories too."'

Snape sighed. He really didn't want to see something like that for a second time. He took out his wand and gave the student a couple of seconds to rethink but she just waited for him. In the back of his mind Snape wondered what Dumbledore would say when he found out, even though there was no rule that forbade teachers to help students find their hidden memories. "_Legilimens_", Snape said with the determination required but with little conviction.

The stream of images came instantly. Hermione saw herself, five years old on skies, desperately trying to get up after falling. She failed time after time and her five-year old self started crying … Seven years old at her grandmothers house baking cookies together … A train with barbed wire as windows, a little kid outside yelling at them that they'd be burned. The wagon filled with skinny woman, freezing too much to be able to speak a word. The floor was covered with quick lime, burning her feet … Two long lines, one consisting of women and children, one of men. She reached the end and the man in front of her pointed at right. She didn't move, frightened as she was. He hit her full in the face.'_Rechts!_' he yelled '_Rechts!_' She went right … A dressing room. A child was covering his eyes and was crying uncontrollably, not wanting to take his clothes off. Hermione saw the soldier coming, holding his gun already. She went to the little boy and talked to him, pleaded him to take his clothes off, telling him it would be fine … A congested room, people pushed together, several hundred in that little room. Pellets were dropped through a slot in the wall. People started screaming … Then she saw none other than Professor Muto in inmate clothing as he methodically lifted a dead girl from among the labor-workers and put her on one of the piles with other dead inmates. His expression gave away that he under no circumstance enjoyed what he was doing. Gently he put her down and closed her eyes.

The images seemed to never end, one was more horrid than the other. Most of all Hermione wanted it to stop, but at the same time she knew that this could be import, she was just far too terrified by what she saw to remember why. She vaguely noticed that she had started hyperventilating and when she started screaming Snape stopped. With her hands over her face she fell to her knees. "This is not possible", she whispered, "It shouldn't be possible. Everyone was there, Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Tracey … Everyone!"

Snape just stared coolly at the Gryffindor in front of him. "I suggest you leave for your dorm now. Perhaps I should remind you of the note you wrote?" With that he turned away and walked towards his desk.

Slowly Hermione got up, still in complete and utter shock. She had told herself she wouldn't become hysteric as she had known that she'd see something awful, but this had surpassed everything she had expected.

_Professor Muto_, she thought, _he's the key to all this. He'll have all the answers_.

* * *

><p>The soldiers working in the camps documented that it took at longest 20 minutes for people to die in the gas-chambers. The temperature would shift between 5 to 17 degrees Celsius in the original chambers. For Zyklon B pellets to turn into hydrocyanic acid it requires a temperature of around 25.7 degrees Ceslius and thus it would have taken up to sixteen to twenty hours for them to die. However I suppose that if you put several hundred people in such a small chamber we'll easily reach up to the thirty degrees Celsius, don't we?<br>So many doubt on what actually happened in the gas-chambers ...  
>All these theories made me uncertain on what to write in Hermione's memories since it's hard to describe what Zyklon B makes you feel like when you don't really know what impact it has on the body. So I kept that short.<p>

I'm almost finished with my nationals. I've got only the last part of the English Nationals and the Mathematics Nationals. Those English nationals were quite pathetic. We got eighty minutes to do them and I was done in less than thirty … we were supposed to stay put till the end. Such a wasted hour.

I received quite few reviews on my previous chapter, or at least it feels like that. I know I've been slightly out of it but now I'm back on track again. I'll do my best to reply to your reviews again.

This sailor wants reviews! (Yippie, I was accepted to the maritime school I applied to)


	24. Cuts

I have a hawthorn wand with Dragon heart string that can't be bend. What was that about unstable, dark personalities again?  
>I quite enjoy Pottermore … Anyone else?<br>Oh yeah, turns out I'm a Slytherin too.

I would have updated last night but something got in the way. Sorry.

* * *

><p>"But this place is so big!" Fearfully he clutched the elder's hand and looked around at all the people who didn't appear half as friendly as the people did back home. Everywhere he looked he saw weird scribbles instead of letters and numbers and it scared him. Everything seemed quite unnatural and the loud talking of the people in the building hardly made him feel better.<p>

"Take it easy", Theo said reassuring as he hugged his brother, "It's a different country, things are different here, but that hardly has to mean it's bad."

"It's still scary", Cole said quietly and didn't let go of his brother for a second as he peered around at all the people who hurried towards the control area so they could leave the airport. Theo and Cole however were in no hurry and sacked behind, leaving all the stressed businessmen to go before them so they wouldn't lose each other in the crowd who gathered in front of the control area.

The two of them enjoyed themselves pretty good just looking at all the signs with foreign languages. They shared a bottle of coke which Theo had bought just before departing and watched curiously as one businessmen after the other went through control. Cole stated that it was weird that they were the only tourists on the flight but Theo silently disagreed. Early January wasn't the most common of times to be traveling from England to Japan, especially not two boys alone.

Theo hadn't expected his parents to let them go as easily as they had. He supposed they found it important that he and Cole were bonding so strongly. Theo had to that point only seen his little brother as a person who annoyed him, but the fact was that he quite enjoyed Cole's company. His little brother was more serious and far less optimistic than Theo was, and the older boy was sure that Cole would be more gifted at school too.

As the last businessmen started to pass through control Theo trashed the empty coke bottle and dragged his frightened little brother with him to the control area. The people there could hardly have failed to notice that Cole was nearly scared to death but it didn't matter. Theo showed the man his and Cole's passport and kept talking soothingly to Cole. The man wished them a happy stay in Japan and although Theo could tell that the man wondered why two boys in their ages would be in Japan this time of the year he didn't ask.

"So, Cole, welcome to Japan", Theo said with a smile and received a somewhat unfriendly glare from his little brother as they went to get their luggage.

"I'm not sure if this was such a good idea. No one speaks English!" Cole said and started to walk even closer to his brother although Theo had held that for impossible. "What do we do now?"

"Now we are going to board the next flight", Theo told his little brother, "But first we've got to eat. We have to wait half an hour before we can check in anyway."

Cole protested some more, claiming that they probably had weird food since they had such an odd way of writing. Normally Theo would have been annoyed to no end by his little brother but not today, he was in an exceptionally good mood and decided that he'd make sure that his little brother wouldn't be as afraid of new places as he was at the moment when they left for home.

Together they cued to one of the lines leading to a small and unusually cheap cafe with loads of different pastries. When they were almost there Cole tugged at Theo's sleeve. "Theo", he whispered, "I don't think we can have tea here."

"Why not?" Theo asked in regular conversation tone, encouraging his brother to do the same.

"They've got weird currency here", Cole explained and looked wide eyed at the man buying a chocolate bar.

"You see, Cole, the nice thing with airports is that you can get away with the most currency – by the way where did you learn that word? – as long as it is one of the larger ones. I believe that here you'd be able to pay with Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Pesos and Rupiahs perhaps too and naturally Yen."

Cole formed his mouth in a sort of O but didn't make a sound while progressing that information. "So we'll be able to have tea then?"

"I hope so", Theo said with a mischievous smile, "otherwise we'll just have to live without food for two weeks."

Cole went very pale, aware that it wasn't the greatest of things to walk around without food for two weeks, but didn't say a thing. Theo started to fear that everything was becoming too much for his younger brother.

"Don't worry, I bought Yen before we flew this way. So instead of freaking out be glad, isn't this your first time outside of England? You should be enjoying that instead of worrying about the things I was supposed to take care of."

"It's probably because it was you who was supposed to take care of them that I worry", Cole said, surprisingly condescending.

Theo just gaped but then saw the smile on his little brothers face. Cole might be frightened and inexperienced, but he wasn't a toddler.

The giant man in front of them paid his coffee but dropped his coins. Cole bend down and helped the man pick the coins up. He dropped the coins in the mans gigantic hand and the man gave him a smile that reminded Theo of the fact that their grandma had always liked Cole better. For some reason everyone found Cole a likable child … until they got to know him better, then most people turned away from him, including their grandma.

Cole spotted a last coin which the man had missed and picked it up. He tapped on the mans back and said: "Excuse me, s ..." Then he got a good look at the coin. He stared at it wide-eyed and called out: "It's broken! There is a hole in it!"

Theo heard some people in the cue behind them laugh silently but Cole didn't seem to notice. "No Cole, it's not broken. The hole is supposed to be there."

"But why?" the younger asked while giving the coin back to the large man who gave the two foreigners a friendly smile.

"Well …" Theo said and took a little pause to think. "You know how annoying it is when your coins fall out of your pocket, don't you?" he asked.

Cole nodded.

"Well, here they made holes in their coins so they could tie them together and fasten them at their pants or jackets so they won't lose them", Theo lied with a smile.

"But ..." Cole thought a while. "Then why don't we have holes in our money?" he finally asked.

It wasn't really the reaction Theo had expected from his brother, to be honest he had thought that Cole had been aware that he was joking. "I guess … I guess they're just smarter here."

Now the laughs from behind them were less discreet and Theo himself laughed too. "Now, tell me what you want so I can order."

Theo ordered a large piece of chocolate cake and hot milk for Cole and an espresso and carrot cake for himself. As Theo paid, indeed with pounds, the man selling the pastries gave them a huge smile and said: "I've never before been so glad that I didn't skip English at school."

When they sat down at one of the small round tables Theo could have sworn that the pieces of cake they each had received were slightly larger than those on display. So far their vacation was going great.

* * *

><p>The next morning Hermione got up late, she felt groggy and still exhausted. It had hardly been a surprise to her that she had slept poorly, in fact she was grateful she had slept at all. What she had seen in Snape's office had haunted her the entire night and she had woken up several times. She was glad she at least didn't talk in her sleep like Harry did, otherwise the rest of the girls hardly would have gotten any rest either.<p>

She had spend an hour or two reading her own note to herself, time after time, in order to gather herself. She had never had as much use of a note as she had had of that one, she wasn't sure how she would have been feeling now hadn't she had it. It was that note which had put everything in a sort of perspective and allowed her to put everything on a certain distance from herself.

She soon had realized that telling herself that it hadn't happened would hardly worked considering it felt real and that was all that mattered. However being reminded of the fact that she willingly hunted down those memories in order to solve a mystery, or perhaps _the_ mystery, helped her avoid a mental breakdown like Harry's.

When she had somewhat calmed down she had made her way up to the boy's dorms, something that had felt very weird that moment of the night, in order to talk to harry. Like she had hoped he was the only one still awake. Without speaking a word she had snatched him by the arm and dragged him from the bed, not feeling like being kind to him. The matter had required cool and common sense, no emotions or it would have become their undoing.

She had put him down in one of the armchairs and Hermione herself had taken the one opposite his. "Now listen", she had started, "I don't give a damn that Ron burned me, he couldn't help it. Neither do I give a damn that you died in front of my eyes while trying to protect a complete stranger, it was your own choice. What I do care about is that something is very wrong in the here and now and if we don't do anything about it everything will go to hell. You-Know-Who's followers are on free foot, the Ministry is blaming Sirius, we have no proper teacher who can teach us to defend ourselves, the overall population is refusing to believe that You-Know-Who is back, the entire school is depressed, Hagrid is on probation, weird beasts are visiting our world because of a freaky Pharaoh and a freaky teacher with freaky powers and half the fifth years are suffering of PTSD and only you and I know why! Snap out of it, you've got more important things to think about than the past!"

Harry just stared at her for almost ten minutes, then he sighed deeply. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could make a sound his eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep, simply due to downright exhaustion. It was almost comical.

Hermione had left him there, afraid to wake him up and had with her feet dragging behind her gone to her own dorm in the hope to catch some sleep. It had hardly surprised her that every time she closed her eyes she had seen horrible images.

When she went downstairs that morning both Harry and Ron were gone, so was everyone else Hermione noticed. It pleased her to see that Harry at least had gathered himself enough to go get breakfast. Hermione decided to do the same thing when her eye fell upon the noticeboard.

_By Order Of The Hogwarts High Inquisitor Of Hogwarts_

_Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach._

_The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six_

_Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor_

Hermione cursed imaginative, that meant Professor Muto now wouldn't be able to tell her what the hell was going on even if she asked him. Umbridge had just played the Japanese Professor straight in the hands. Hermione had a feeling that he wouldn't have liked her confronting him, not that she would have any time soon. She had to think, long a deep, before she made a decision. For the moment she didn't trust herself.

_Rita Skeeter_, she thought, _My next move lies with her, her and Luna Lovegood._

* * *

><p>When they were done with their cakes Cole and Theo went to check in. Everything went quite smoothly until they reached security screening. A woman, clearly not from Japanese origin, refused to take her jacket off for screening.<p>

Cole and Theo held their distant as the woman, no, the girl silently argued with the security guard. It took a while before Theo realized that she wasn't arguing, she was pleading. There was something extremely weird about the situation. There clearly was something the girl in Theo's age wanted to hide, but she didn't seem to mind the guards knowing that.

"Isn't there a way for me to be examined without me taking off my jacket?" she wondered with a strong German accent in broken English.

"No, mam, that's not possible. Please remove your jacket or leave", the guard said, looking firm.

It was silent for about a minute and Cole wondered: "Why doesn't she want to take her jacket off?"

Theo shrugged. "I really wouldn't know, Cole. Looks like we are going to find out."

The girl opened the buttons of her jeans jacket and then hesitated. The guard however, didn't mind her hesitation. The queue behind the woman was unusual short so he was in no hurry and he had already won. She turned around and looked at the people behind her. The only ones behind her were two Japanese businessmen, Cole and Theo. Her eyes got stuck on Cole and her hesitation grew.

She opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind, turned back towards the guard and pulled her jacket off carefully. Never in his life had Theo seen such a sight and at once he understood why she had so desperately wanted to keep her jacket on. Underneath it she was wearing a band T-shirt with the words In Flames written on it. It was however not her clothing which made her such a … gruesome sight.  
>Cole put both hands on his eyes so he wouldn't need to see and the guard swallowed noticeable.<p>

Her lower and upper arms were all covered with cuts, so fresh that some of them were still bleeding. They seemed to have various dept and length and the pattern was nonexistent. It was as if someone had put the lights out and started to cut on feeling. "Satisfied?" she wondered silently and walked through the metal detector. The gate remained unchanged.

"Because you refused to cooperate I must insist on a full-body search. Do you mind?" he asked, more out of politeness than to leave her a choice.

"No, not at all. Just be careful", she said, sounding quite hostile despite her words.

The man did a methodical full-body search and ignored her small yelps of pain when he hurt her by doing so. When she was cleared she quickly grabbed her jacket and covered her wounds again. Embarrassed she fled from the security screening area. The guard exchanged a short dialogue with some of his colleagues and they shook their heads.

Cole was shaken by the entire incident and Theo had to reason with him before he dared walking through the metal detector. The gate started flashing and Cole covered his ears and closed his eyes quickly.

"Your belt, Cole", Theo reminded him calmly, "Did you forget to take that off?"

Cole lifted his t-shirt to check and indeed, he hadn't removed his belt. He walked back and gave his belt to one of the guards who put it through x-ray screening. Cole passed the metal detector again, disliking it even more. This time it didn't react though and Cole was allowed to put his belt, shoes and jacket back on.

Theo made sure he had removed everything he was supposed to remove and then walked through the gates. The guard requested a full-body search on him too and although Theo was hardly comfortable with it he just nodded. He was just grateful they had done no such thing on Cole, the boy would have fainted of terror.

Theo quickly put his shoes on and gave Cole his backpack which was Cole's hand luggage. The backpack was far too big for him and it almost made him look like a turtle. Cole himself didn't seem to be bothered by the size of the backpack and walked away from the area as quickly as his legs could carry him. Theo almost had to run to keep up with his little brother.

When they sat down to wait for the plane Theo asked: "Hey Cole, this isn't going to ruin or vacation, is it?"

"Were here on business", Cole stated gravely and looked out the window as a large plane took of towards the west.

"Only the first day. We will be here for two weeks, you got to enjoy it otherwise I'll be sad", Theo said in an attempt to lighten the mood and made a sad face worthy of Puss in Boot's famous expression in the movie Shrek.

Cole however did not melt at the expression like most people would and just made a sound of distaste as he looked away. Then, without saying a word he stood up and walked away.

"Hey!" Theo called after him but Cole didn't even turn to look at his brother. He just kept walking, clearly knowing where he was going and Theo had no other choice but to follow him.

Cole walked up to a figure sitting alone, knees pulled up to her chin and staring without seeing. She didn't react to anything that happened around her until Cole stopped in front of her, crossed his arms and scowled. She looked up at him, then at Theo who was still far behind Cole.

"What is it, kid?" she wondered, her accent even more prominent now.

"I want to know why", Cole said unfriendly, still scowling.

She laughed softly. "Do you? Why would you want to know why? You closed your eyes, isn't it easier to keep your eyes closed?"

Cole shook his head violently. "What would I learn from that?"

"How old are you?" she wondered, now sounding amused.

"Ten", he said, "Why does everyone keep asking that?"

"Because you both act younger and older at the same time. It's hard for people to figure out how old you are", the girl said with a hint of humor in her voice. "It's fascinating."

"People don't like me", Cole stated with a matter of fact attitude.

"I can understand that", she answered with the same tone and took a handful of gelatine-mice from a bag of candy. She didn't offer Cole any, something Theo was glad for.

"You haven't answered my question yet", Cole said with an unfriendly glare. Theo wondered whether he should be embarrassed or impressed by his brother's straightforward attitude.

"Repeat your question. If you want to know I'll tell you. However tell your brother that I do not bare any responsibility if you have nightmares, okay?" she said and took some more candy.

Cole didn't even look at his brother. "I can't remember my dreams. Why do you cut yourself?"

"What makes you think it's me who did it?" the girl asked, the words sounding odd due to her heavy accent.

Cole's scowl vanished due to his surprise, he thought through those words a while and then sighed. "I … I just can tell."

"You can see it", the girl said and started plaiting her long, sand-colored hair. "It was me who did it."

Cole patiently waited for the answer on his question.

She sighed and dropped her hair before she was done plaiting it. "To tell you the truth, I don't even know why I do it anymore."

"Then why do you still do it?" Cole asked confused, "I thought people only do it when they feel bad or to prove themselves."

The girl snorted. "To prove themselves … what a bunch of idiots. Do you want to know how you can tell the difference between someone who cuts to call upon attention and appear cool and someone who really has the need for that kind of pain?"

Cole just nodded. Theo was not pleased and considered interrupting the conversation but at the same time he realized that this probably was the easiest way for Cole to get these events out of his system.

"People who call upon attention will cut on the upside of their arms and pull up their sleeves when in public so everyone can see. Those are the kind old ladies fuss about and make parents so worried about the whole Emo-culture thing. Those are the only cutters you can recognize. Than there are people who really need the pain, who really are depressed, those who really need help. You see, those who show off, they can quit at any time, no problem at all." The German girl took another candy. "It's those who hide it and work themselves into real sorrow that can't quit no matter how much they despise their behavior. They must hurt themselves, over and over again and just pray no one will find out."

"You want to hide it", Cole stated.

"Oh yeah. I vaguely remember the reason to why I started, which is almost ten years ago now. Nowadays however it's an addiction like any other, if I don't cut myself for a week I suffer of abstinence. Naturally it's a psychological addiction… but then again … so is LSD", she added dryly. "I just tried one day and trust me, kid, I decided never to do it again. A month later I did it again and before the year was over I was addicted."

"So", Cole said and tried to understand, "you can have the greatest day ever and still cut yourself when it's over?"

"Kid, I can cut at any time. But the truth is, the happier I am the less need I feel for it. I was very stupid last night, usually I don't do this much but I didn't feel so good so ..." She went quiet and was lost in thoughts for a while. "Anyway … I can't recommend it kid."

"Stop calling me kid", Cole said annoyed, "I have a name, you know."

"But you are not going to tell me and neither will I tell you mine", she said with a fake smile.

"I already know yours", Cole said, still annoyed.

She raised an eyebrow. "How?"

The little boy pointed at her backpack. "It's on the name tag in your backpack. It said Claudia."

Claudia smirked. "You are an attentive little sneak, are you not?"

Cole nodded. "I want to know what's going on around me, I want to be able to react to whatever could happen. Weird things have happened before and if I don't know how to deal with them there is no telling what the consequences will be."

It was an unpleasant reminder for Theo how little he actually knew about his little brother and he decided to figure out exactly what Cole had meant when the moment was right.

"What kind of stupid thing did you do?" Cole wondered, clearly not willing to talk about himself.

Claudia gave another harsh laugh. "I've cut for ten years, I've refined the methods. I can cut in a way that will make sure no one will see it. Yesterday however something bad happened and I forgot to be careful. I just cut myself up and now I have to bare the consequences. Like you said, we must be able to know how to deal with whatever arrives on our path."

Cole got the hint and didn't ask what had happened the day before again. "Can you tell me why you started cutting?"

"And you want to know all that just to learn?" she wondered skeptically, "It's not the kind of thing kids like you should want to know."

"If everyone would look away, wouldn't it just get worse?" Cole asked.

"Of course it would get worse", Claudia admitted, "But still you shouldn't need to know. You are only ten, you should be running around playing stupid games like tag and hide-and-seek instead of worrying why people cut themselves into bits. The people who should care about me are old, untrustworthy shrinks with glasses and clipboards who think they understand everything we say. However it's understandable that they don't care, they have quite the ungrateful job."

"I don't like psychologists either", Cole stated and finally sat down. Theo decided to do the same thing. He was still at some distance from the two but he made sure he could hear their conversation.

"Are you seeing a psychologist?" Claudia asked, genuinely surprised.

"No, I have though, but he didn't like me and after a while he refused to work with me any longer", Cole explained, not sounding the least sad over that fact. He sounded distant, as if the event hadn't been about him.

Theo remembered that only vaguely. Around that time his mother had been really depressed and Theo had done everything he could to stay away from the house. Instead he had been in the city and crashed at a friend's place, only sleeping at home when he was forced to. Cole had locked himself in his room and had refused to come out, he hadn't even gone to school for two weeks. Theo's little brother had clearly been hurt by the shrink's decision and neither of Cole's parents had known what to do. It had been an unstable time for all of them.

"I see", was all Claudia managed to say. She realized that it was out of the ordinary for a psychologist to refuse to work with a patient, especially when the patient was a minor. Either he was an incredibly poor shrink or the boy in front of her really was twisted to a degree that couldn't be comprehended. She guessed it was the first alternative.

"Are you trying to avoid answering my question again?" Cole wondered dryly.

"I wasn't welcome", Claudia stated and took some more candy, still not offering Cole any.

"What?" Cole raised an eyebrow.

"It's as easy as that. I wasn't welcome."

Cole crossed his arms. "I'm not satisfied with that answer."

Claudia smirked and looked down on Cole. "What if that's all the answer I am willing to give?"

Cole just stood up and walked away. Not a single time did he look behind him. He just kept walking away from Claudia. Theo was flabbergasted. How in the world could two so different people be on such a level of communication? Claudia didn't seem to be the least bothered by Cole's impolite leaving, she just finished her candy, grabbed her backpack and left for her gate. Cole didn't stop when he reached Theo either. "Our plane leaves soon." And Cole passed by.  
>Theo looked from Cole to Claudia and from Claudia to Cole again.<p>

"Wow", he eventually sighed and decided not to try and understand. He ran after Cole. At least the boy wasn't afraid anymore.

* * *

><p>For Rebecca life at Hogwarts became even more suffocating than it had been in the beginning. She was stressed out by all the extra work the teachers gave her all the time while the only subjects she was good at were Potions, Arithmancy, Astronomy and Ancient Runes. Yugi had refused to talk to her ever since they had returned to Hogwarts and no matter how much she tried to corner him he just slipped away while his depression grew deeper and deeper, he hid it with quite some talent when in class but she could see it. Since the death of her grandfather Peter almost treated her as a porcelain doll no matter how often she told him that she was fine and to make it all worse the gloomy mood that had spread itself through the hallways was now so thick it could be touched.<p>

The contact between the teachers and students had completely vanished due to Umbridge's decree and that meant that Yugi's earlier one of a kind lectures were slightly reduced in impact, however Rebecca was not sure if that was a bad thing.

No matter how poor she was at performing spells, Rebecca too had redoubled her efforts to succeed with what Harry and Tracey taught them. In much it was the aftermath of the Death Eaters who escaped. Every time she failed at a spell that Harry showed them she reminded herself once again of the Death Eater that killed every friend she had ever had and tried even harder. Failing at the things that Tracey taught them however was entirely different to the lot of them. Since the werewolf now was receiving private lessons in most subjects she learned different things than they did. Especially since most subjects were taught by Snape, including Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Snape taught her things that Rebecca doubted were to be taught to students who didn't even have their OWLs yet.

The overall shock in the DA was great when Tracey had told them that Snape didn't seem to have a problem teaching her hexes, or even curses in rare cases.

"But why?" Zacharias had wondered.

Tracey had smiled. "Since I, according to Snape, have a certain disadvantage to regular wizards and witches. Especially after Umbridge's campaign against werewolves it's exceptionally hard to find a job or anything alike for someone like me, so Snape said that the only way to compensate for that is to be more skilled than the rest at as much as possible and perhaps they'll give me a chance. He's helping me achieve such skills, even if they sometimes are of a darker trade I'm very glad Snape is teaching me, he's an exceptionally good teacher, really."

The entire DA had looked doubtful. Not one of them had ever seen Snape as a good teacher, they hadn't even held it for possible.

"I can even brew my own wolfsbane potion now", Tracey added, unable to hide how proud she was over that fact.

Hermione had stared at the Slytherin wide-eyed. "That's one of the most advanced potions that there is!"

"And the one I was most eager to learn!" Tracey had said with an even larger smile, "I still can't brew Cure for Boils!"

The entire room had erupted into laughter. Tracey had often told them she was a poor potion-maker and the thing she normally used as an example was that she still couldn't brew Cure for Boils even though it was a first-year potion. The contrast between wolfsbane potion and Cure for Boils was great and that she could brew wolfsbane but not Cure for Boils was something out of the ordinary.

What Tracey taught them, or more accurately, tried to teach them was so complicated that the only ones who succeeded were Hermione and, surprisingly, Neville. The overall increase of performance had been large since the news of the escape, although no one's improvement was as pronounced as Neville's. However Neville hadn't only improved, he had changed. His mood had turned dark and gloomy, he rarely spoke and his determination was greater than ever. Something had happened to Neville and it was in one way connected to the escape but he didn't speak and no one dared to ask.

Rebecca was displeased to see that it was she who was doing poorest at learning all the charms and jinxes. No one looked down on her considering this practically was her first year, but Rebecca hated it. Instead she proved herself in the subjects she was good in and soon became one of the best potion-makers in class.

When she once again failed at doing the Shield Charm and was hit by the Trip Jinx she lost her temper. "One of the best hackers this world has ever known should not be locked up in a castle lit by candles, trying to do magic tricks with a piece of wood! I hacked into Kaiba's damn system, I can hack any system in the world and here I can't even preform a lousy spell! Dammit! I'm good with the ones and the zeros that make out a computer but this stupid piece of wood is not understandable at all!"

Most of the wizard-born students stared at her as if she was speaking a language they did not understand and Rebecca assumed they didn't. They had no way of knowing what hacking could possibly mean. The muggle-borns and half-bloods however laughed.

"You know it's illegal to hack into someone's computer, right?" a Hufflepuff wondered with a smile.

"Not if the owner asks for it", Rebecca grunted and stood up

Peter walked towards Rebecca with a soothing smile. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Becca", he said calmly, "You'll get better soon, not that you could get any worse."

More laughter went through the room although most just ignored them. It wouldn't be the first time anyone had lost their temper when failing.

Rebecca stared Peter in the eyes and Peter steadied himself for a scolding but she didn't say word. She just stared at him for over a minute, then, before Peter knew what was happening, she lifted her want and shouted: "_Stupefy!_" It was the first time she ever managed to do the Stunning charm

* * *

><p>I love carrot cakes! :3 (Though I don't like the ones they sell at the ski-slope)<p>

There are people who loath Mary Sues, there are people who dislike yaoi, there are people who ignore romance in general, there are people who rather not read tragedy, there are people that refuse to read poorly written stories.

I really HATE stories where characters cut themselves and the author clearly has no idea what it is like!

Alright, I should be preparing for Walpurgis Night but for the moment I'm still in denial. I'm afraid my friends are planning something for tonight and I'm not sure I'm going to like it. Since most of you probably don't know what it is. It's an old Swedish tradition which survived Christianity and in addition to that one of the eight pagan feasts. Considering I'm Wiccan, one of my holidays.

Now give me reviews so I have something to burn tonight!  
>(Pretty please?)<p> 


	25. Mokuba

It's 4 May, it's snowing …  
>It's actually snowing …<p>

It's 6 May, it hails

Isn't it spring?

* * *

><p>"You're asking me?" Rebecca just stared at him, completely unable to comprehend the question.<p>

"Well, yeah, I thought … I dunno … Why not?" he said and looked at the ground stubbornly. For a moment Rebecca thought he would deny asking at all, but he didn't.

"But … What?"

"You really shouldn't be that surprised", he said, covering his nervousness with a uncordial tone.

"I am!" Rebecca called out and reminded herself that they were standing in a crowded hallway. She would under no circumstance make a scene here.

"I noticed that, although I can't see why", he said, still sounding somewhat unfriendly while trying to hide a blush.

"Can't you? It really wasn't the first thing on my mind. I had completely forgotten that it was on that day." Valentines day … Rebecca had hardly even noticed that the next trip to Hogsmeade's would be on Valentines day and she had definitely not expected anyone to ask her, especially not Peter.

"Now you know." Peter wasn't the least pleased by Rebecca's reaction. He had expected her to either turn him down friendly or to laugh at him, not complete surprise.

"Yeah, I do", she said, her tone indicating how astonished she was.

"Are you going to turn me down?" Peter asked, simply wishing to get it over with. He couldn't believe he had even asked. He'd kill Ginny for telling him to just ask Rebecca, he'd kill her.

"Eh, I don't know. My mind is blank. Give me some time to comprehend." Rebecca and Peter were facing each other and the tension between them was quite awkward. Not one of them dared to look the other in the eyes.

"It, it doesn't have to be that, you know", Peter said eventually, afraid he had ruined things between the two of them.

Rebecca however did not like hearing that. "Oh yes, it does. It's the wrong day for anything else. And you asked like that, so, yeah it does."

"You're confusing", Peter stated simply, although somewhat disappointed.

"I am confused and my mind is still blank", Rebecca said and closed her eyes so she could focus while Peter kept scolding himself on his idiocy. How could he have asked her such a thing. He really should have known that dating wasn't on Rebecca's list of priorities.

Then suddenly: "Yes."

"What?" Peter asked bewildered.

"Yes, I'll go with you. I mean, why not?" Rebecca said and give him a smile.

"Really?" Peter stared at her wide-eyed.

Rebecca's smile grew. "Had you expected me to turn you down?" she wondered slightly amused.

"Yes, I actually had", Peter admitted and went red.

"Is it a good or bad thing that I didn't?" Rebecca asked, teasing him.

"It's a good thing. It's a great thing", he said and he started smiling.

Together they walked off to their common room. Neither of the two mentioned it again for the rest of the day. They went to classes as usual, ate lunch as usual and did their homework in the common room as usual. It was as if they both were in denial.

That evening while eating dinner Rebecca was confronted by Ginny. "Did he ask?"

"Who was supposed to ask what?" Rebecca said and took another bite, pretending to be oblivious to what Ginny meant.

"You know what I mean", Ginny said, annoyed by the American student and slightly afraid she was sincere.

"No, Ginny, I really wouldn't know", Rebecca said, hiding a smile. Luna who had seen Peter asking Rebecca remained quiet too and just kept eating her pudding, not looking at either of them.

"Luna!" Ginny wondered, "Does she really not know what I mean?"

Luna shrugged. "How am I supposed to know that." She got up and left the Great Hall.

"Did or didn't Peter ask you out for Valentines Day?" Ginny asked, a little too loud for Rebecca's liking.

As she had expected someone reacted. Tracey got up from her isolated spot at the Slytherin table and walked towards Rebecca. "Is what I hear true?" she wondered with a teasing smile. "Is cold Rebecca loosing up?"

"She won't answer me", Ginny said, "I know Peter wanted to ask but that he wasn't sure if he dared."

"He asked", Rebecca confirmed silently, bothered by Tracey's words.

"And you turned him down", Tracey stated self-assured.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow and turned around so she could face the two girls who were disrespectfully hoovering over her shoulder. "What in the world would make you think that?"

"Didn't you?" Ginny asked genuinely surprised.

"That wasn't what I said", Rebecca retorted and took her cup, "I asked why you would think such a thing, you didn't answer."

"You turned him down!" Ginny called out disappointed and her expression slumped. "Why?"

"Damn it! No, I didn't turn him down. Now answer my question!" Rebecca said and sighed annoyed. "Why can't any of you ever answer the questions asked and stop jumping to conclusions?" She leaned back against the table and looked at the Gryffindor and Slytherin opposite her.

"You always take distance from people whenever they try to get close to you", Tracey said, "I thought you'd take your distance from someone if they asked such a thing too."

"I get along great with, you two, and Peter and Luna. What do you mean take distance?" Rebecca said insulted.

"Peter and Luna both were outcasts, so am I now, the only one a little in row is Ginny", Tracey said and crossed her arms. "And even we don't know half the things about you that there are to know. You never tell us anything."

Rebecca made an avoiding gesture. "Some things you're better off not knowing. Has that thought ever crossed your mind."

"Why would it be better for us not to know?" Dean joined the group and slid an arm around Tracey's waist, but the look in his eyes was slightly odd.

"What exactly are you referring to?" Rebecca asked him.

Dean didn't answer but Rebecca saw that his eyes moved towards Yugi who was sitting at the Staff table, eating in silence. She gave a short laugh.

"Because there could be more to it than can be understood", Rebecca said with a mysterious smile. "And prejudice could mess things up, you should know that Dean. Just look at Tracey."

"But if it is dangerous?" Dean wondered, ignoring Rebecca's comment on his girlfriend.

Rebecca chuckled. "Why would I hide anything dangerous? How would I keep a deadly secret? How would that have happened. If I've ever kept a deadly secret it's something all three of you are aware of", she said and meant the DA.

Dean just rolled his eyes.

Tracey broke the tension. "So you have plans for Valentines Day, then?"

Rebecca nodded. "It looks like that. It would be at first."

"Really?" the three others asked in chorus, each of their voices stacked with disbelieve.

"I'm a Ravenclaw. My priority is knowledge, not love", Rebecca said with a harsh laugh and threw out her arms.

Tracey's face darkened. "That sounds like simply burned", she stated distasteful.

Rebecca looked her in the eyes for a minute. Then she nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose. Though burned is not the correct choice of words. They didn't burn, at least not that." With those words she drained the remainder of her cup and walked out the Great Hall. She knew that Tracey was right. Ever since the massacre she hadn't even bothered trying to make friends with anyone, but she hardly wanted to admit that.

She started to do her potions homework and was busy until deep in the night. She could however not quite concentrate. For some reason things were awfully calm, it was as if everyone was waiting for the great strike that would put everything out of perspective. At least now she had something to look forward to.

* * *

><p>The simple hotel in Domino had been just that, simple but quite to Theo's content when they arrived there at the end of the afternoon. They had taken a couple of hours to shower and to recover from their long trip. Cole even slept an hour or two before they went to Burger World to get a meal. Once they got back to their room Cole nearly fainted from exhaustion.<p>

Theo made sure Cole was awake long enough to change to a pajama and brush his teeth, but after that Cole fell on the bed and slept before he had the chance to cover himself with the sheets.

Theo on the other hand was surprisingly fit at the moment and decided to make sure that they'd actually be able to meet Mokuba Kaiba in the morning. All by all, that would be the greatest challenge of them all, that, and to convince him that the cards were real. It was probably a good thing that Cole had brought Yugi's entire deck.

It took Theo less than a minute to find KaibaCorp's website. It wasn't that hard to find contact details either to this or that department, they were so many however that Theo realized that he wouldn't get through to Mokuba like that at all. Instead he did another search on the Blue Eyes White Dragon and was more lucky. The entry was four and half a year old and the newest comment was from three months ago. Mokuba had really gone all out when it came to finding his brothers cards. It wouldn't surprise Theo if Mokuba had given up on them a long time ago.

Theo wrote down the number that was with the entry and did a search on Yugi Muto instead. Like he had expected, the internet was covered with the unexpected encounter with Yugi Muto in central London. Once again Theo wished that he could have been there, it would have been such an unique experience. The long lost King of Games on the streets of London in the company of the ingenious young duelist Rebecca Hawkins. Yeah, it really would have been something. Theo looked at his brothers backpack. In that ugly thing laid the most valuable cards that currently existed.

It was however not their monetary value that made him sigh, it was the emotional value attached to them. The emotions of thousands of people like him and a couple of years older that with their breath held had watched the duels of the famous teenager. That very same Dark Magician, that very same Curse of Dragon, that very same Kuriboh …

It could be Yugi's unexpected step into the light that could get them to Mokuba. He considered his next step and then made up his mind. He just called the number he had just written down and held his breath.

The man who answered the telephone greeted them in Japanese.

"Excuse me", Theo said, "Do you speak English?"

"Yes I do", the man said, his accent thick but his English understandable. His tone was quite unfriendly.

"I came in the possession of the three Blue Eyes White Dragon Cards a couple of weeks ago", Theo said, not knowing how else to put it. He decided that the simple truth would be best.

"Sir, it's more believable if you claim that you have only one", the man said, clearly annoyed.

"That would be a lie. Would it make me more trustworthy if I claimed that I do not only have the three Blue Eyes White Dragons but also have Yugi Muto's entire deck with exception for the God Cards?" Theo wondered. The fact that Yugi Muto had given one of the bystanders _something_ was common knowledge, even if Yugi had told everyone to leave before he did so.

"That would be a rather odd truth", the man said, although Theo could tell that the man's interest was now more genuine.

"I assume you know that Yugi Muto was spotted in London and that he was stopped by an assembly of duelists?" Theo asked, his tone casual.

The man grunted something that Theo couldn't understand, then said: "I can repeat the entire conversation for you word for word right here and now."

"Impressive", Theo laughed, "Then I assume you know that Yugi Muto talked to a ten year old called Cole and gave him something?"

"Naturally."

"It was his deck. His deck and several other cards, among them the Blue Eyes White Dragon, all three of them even", Theo told him. "The reason I know this is because Cole is my younger brother. He was not familiar with the so-called Dueling Legends like Seto Kaiba, Katsuya Jonouchi, Bandit Keith, Kujaku Mai and so on. He did however know enough about the King of Games to recognize him. When I informed him of everything else he asked me why Seto Kaiba's younger brother didn't have the cards instead. Family means a lot to Cole."

"I see", the man said. "I hope sincerely that what you are saying is not another well made-up story, it's the first call we've gotten for a while now. Master Mokuba has already given up hope on the Blue Eyes."

"I don't know how I can convice you of my honesty other than by giving you my word", Theo said calmly, "And I've been told often that my word is worthless."

"I think a private meeting is in order here", the man said, "I assume you are located in England?"

Theo shook his head before realizing that he was using a phone for communication. "No. For the moment we, my brother and I, are in Domino City."

The man didn't comment that statement, he just said: "When can we meet?"

"The day after tomorrow. Give us some time to recover from our trip", Theo said and threw his sleeping little brother a look.

"Understandable. I expect you at KaibaCorp's headquarters during noon the day after tomorrow. Ask for Isono", the man said, leaving no options.

"We will be there", Theo said and hung up the phone. He had been surprised by how easy that had been, though he supposed that Mokuba Kaiba really wanted those cards back. He yawned and decided to go to bed. It would be a wise decision.

* * *

><p>A small figure was looking at the boy with the colorful hair. The figure had been told to watch Yugi as much as he could, although to return on occasion so he wouldn't wear himself out too much. The creature didn't mind observing, he was good at it, he just found it slightly weird.<p>

It was obvious to him that things weren't going all too well for his masters and that the two of them were suffering, suffering a lot. He wished that they had never come here. It would have been easier for all of them.

It was for that reason that he hated Lucius Malfoy almost as much as his masters did. He had never understood his masters' friends, but he had known that they had been important. His friends had both been Yugi's strength and weakness and now that they were all gone he clearly felt worse than ever, but at the same time no one seemed to be able to harm them anymore either.

He grieved his masters. Once upon a time it would have been great to serve at the King's side, now the King wasn't like that at all. Darkness had overtaken them, a darkness that shouldn't be with someone like Yugi or the Pharaoh. He wished he could do something to change the situation that the two were in, but he knew he couldn't. A prophecy had been made and the beasts just had to wait for it to be fulfilled, one way or another. The outcome could be disastrous or just what Yugi and his companion needed. The shadow creatures had to wait for their decision and on that they would act.

The scenario they had to avoid at any cost however was that either Yugi or Atem were harmed before they could fulfill the weird woman's prophecy. That's why he had to keep a close eye on the two.

He followed as his masters walked out their room. A cat crawled out from underneath the bed and followed too.

* * *

><p>Mokuba waited outside the conference-room, not feeling like having the face of another cheap prankster in his mind. There had been thousands of them, Mokuba had been prepared for that, but he just couldn't stand to see another swindler. Instead he had asked Isono to take care of them. If it turned out that they could be talking the truth he would see for himself, no earlier.<p>

Mokuba wondered what his brother would have said had he seen how things were now. He'd probably have been revolted by all the tricksters. Although Mokuba wasn't sure if Seto would have been so proud of Mokuba now either.

Being CEO had been a job just as hard as Seto had claimed. Mokuba had been busy nearly all day and rarely ever had gotten a chance to sleep. He had tried to keep KaibaCorp running for as long as he could, but Mokuba had known that he didn't have the skill to keep it up, businesslife had been nothing for him, it never had. At the other hand he didn't want to close or change the parks he and his brother had built with so much effort. It was when he considered taking pills to stay awake that he realized something had to be done.

In the middle of the night he had called Leon Von Schroeder who had been in a more favorable time-zone and requested a meeting. The week after every employee of KaibaCorporation had received the news that KaibaCorporation would become a part of Schroeder Corporation but that they would continue like they always had. Mokuba had sold all his shares of the company to Schroeder Corporation under the promise that they would leave the theme parks intact. Not a single person was fired and the money Mokuba received for his shares was far enough to live two lives from.

Eventually he had gotten bored and asked Leon for a job, a simple, everyday job preferably. He ended up being the referee of the larger Duel Monsters tournament organized by KaibaCorp or the Schroeder Corporation. For some reason neither Leon, Zigfried or anyone else had found it necessary to change KaibaCorp's name. They were still seen as a separate part of Schroeder Corporation although it actually wasn't. Duel Monsters became entirely KaibaCorp's and Industrial Illusion's area, Schroeder Corporation concentrated on other games.

Mokuba was sure that his brother would have a fit if he had known that Mokuba had sold his company to the Schroeders, but at least the theme parks still prevailed the way Seto had wanted. Mokuba had collected every drawing, blueprint and document Seto had ever made and had given them to Leon.

Mokuba had been surprised to learn that Seto had created far more sketches and ideas for theme parks all over the world than Mokuba had known and Leon had engaged Mokuba in the creation of the parks since no one had known Seto Kaiba better than Mokuba. Mokuba had been in charge of the design of every theme park that had been built since the death of his older brother. He and Leon had become good friends in the years they had worked together and Mokuba got along with Zigfried too, even though that was only on an acquaintance and business level.

No one would notice that Mokuba was still one of the richest persons in all of Japan since he didn't behave like it. His car was as normal as that of the everyday teenager, his clothes were from normal stores and he lived in a small apartment in the city. His neighbors were unaware of who he was, after four years he could live somewhat undercover, only someone really into Duel Monsters would be able to recognize him. The focus had never been on him anyway, it was just that he had been by Seto's side so often that real duelists would recognize him.

He knew that the people who knew who he was talked about him. They frequently whispered about his brother and how sad it must have been to lose his last relative. That he never smiled anymore and always was alone, almost isolated from the rest of the world. How he desperately searched for his brother's most prized possessions and how saddening that was. Every word they said regarding him was filled with pity.

Mokuba didn't need their compassion, what they said might be true, but he was fine as it was. Seto had been the only person in the world he had cared for and now that Seto was gone all he could do was make it on his own, just like his brother would have.

It were the theme parks and the cards that mattered, nothing else. Those parks had been their life-long dream and it would come true, no matter the costs. Mokuba had eventually shared his and Seto's dream with Leon who in his turn had told Zigfried, soon the work on the Theme parks had escalated. Mokuba was satisfied with the results even though it had meant hard work and the only thing he missed was his brother's satisfaction at seeing their dream come true.

When Isono came out the room Mokuba snapped out of his thoughts. "And?"

"They don't only have the three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards, they have Yugi's entire deck and fragments from master Kaiba's and Jonouchi's deck too. They aren't fake, I've checked carefully", Isono said.

"Are you sure they aren't exceptionally well done fakes?" Mokuba wondered distrustful. Isono had been wrong before …

"A teenage and a ten-year old wouldn't fly to Japan to sell us some cheap copies, besides, they don't want anything for the cards", Isono added and looked at the door.

"All of them?" Mokuba asked bewildered.

Roland shrugged. "I didn't ask."

Mokuba thought for a while and then nodded. "I'll talk to them." He entered the room, closely followed by Isono.

The room was simple. No windows, white plaster walls without decoration, a large conference table in cheap wood and twenty chairs around it, a single large lamp hung from the ceiling and the door was dark with glass and blinds. All by all, it looked like an interrogation room and actually that was exactly what it was.

The two English boys were sitting next to each other, the younger one clearly not entirely comfortable. The other one was perhaps two or three years younger than Mokuba and held his brothers hand comfortingly. On the table lay the three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards in plain sight turned face up, to Mokuba they were perfection. A pile of Duel Monster cards laid next to them, the pile was too large to be a single deck, there had to be up to eighty cards at least.

"I'm Kaiba Mokuba", Mokuba greeted them and held out a hand.

The two foreigners stood up and the elder of the two took Mokuba's hand in a firm shake. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Theo Clancy, this is my brother Cole." Cole just raised a hand in greeting.

Mokuba, who had a soft spot for everything that was cute, young and shy, just smiled reassuringly at Cole. Then his face went stern as his gaze fell upon the three cards on the table. "To this day no one has been able to trick me into believing their fakes were real. If yours are, you'll be no exception", Mokuba said with an almost threatening voice.

"I can assure you that each and every card here is real", Theo said quietly.

"I'm sure that you don't mind if I double-check that, do you?" Mokuba wondered. When neither Cole nor Theo protested Mokuba took one Blue Eyes at a time. Not one of them was in perfect shape like everyone would have expected them to be and they often were faked just like that, unscathed, perfect. Mokuba however knew that they had been so well-used that his brothers cards being unscathed was simply impossible. Mokuba checked all the standard signs that made out a real card but it weren't those that verified to him that these were indeed the real cards.

"It's nearly unimaginable that after four years someone finally shows up with my brother's cards", Mokuba said, more to himself than to them. "Let me tell you a story."

Theo cocked his head. He was glad to learn that Mokuba had been able to tell that they were real, but he couldn't imagine what he would be telling them. Cole just nodded.

"Everyone thinks my brother treated these cards as something sacred and in many ways he did, sometimes he went even slightly overboard with that." Mokuba smirked but didn't explain. "However they were used and used a lot and they were definitely not in perfect shape. In fact, there is blood on one of them. It wasn't uncommon for Seto to get into trouble now and then. He once saved himself from being shot with the use of a card, Gyakutenno Makami."

Like Mokuba had hoped Theo reached for the large pile of cards. He quickly scanned through them and handed Mokuba Gyakutenno Makami. The card was clearly damaged in the middle although still usable.

"That's the one", Mokuba stated and looked at it with a bittersweet affection in his gaze. "Anyway, cards are sharp."

Cole nodded in agreement and Theo suppressed a laugh. They all seemed to have a certain experience with that.

"Seto didn't care for sports, but if he threw something it always reached its goal, that included throwing cards at people. When he, Yugi and Yugi's friends got in some real trouble he threw a card at a man's hand and it dug into it, remaining stuck there. Seto couldn't remove the blood without tearing his card and that's why this Blue Eyes has a darker corner." Mokuba held up one of the three dragons. "Seto got angry at the man for damaging his most prized card, he always got angry at people damaging his cards, even if it was his own fault, he just had to be mad at someone. No one knows this and no one fakes blood on a card, that's why they all failed to trick me." Mokuba sat down and put the card on the table. "Now tell me what happened in London."

"I wasn't there", Theo said and looked at Cole.

Cole took a deep breath and started telling. He was only interrupted by Mokuba a few times. When Cole told him about Rebecca he was surprised, Rebecca had been quite an active duelist but half a year ago she had just disappeared. It could hardly be a coincidence that Rebecca too vanished and then showed up with Yugi again. _She must have come across Yugi and refrained from dueling since then, I wonder why?_

When Cole was done telling Mokuba laughed. "That sounds like Yugi, alright. I wonder with what he meant by his help being needed elsewhere."

"You want to find him?" Cole wondered.

Mokuba nodded and smiled. "Naturally. Yugi is a friend, one of the few left. Besides, I don't think he's doing alright."

In addition to that, Mokuba really wanted to know what had happened with the second Yugi, the one who turned out to be an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh whose name was Atem. He doubted he could ask the two foreigners that though. "I wish I at least could have attended Arthur's funeral, oh well, I suppose Yugi and Rebecca didn't want to call too much attention to themselves. It's a surprise Pegasus didn't go to find him, he feels his tournaments are quite useless without the King of Games to pass on or defend his title, although I suppose that Yugi once again proved that no one else but him is worthy of that title." For a moment he felt like crying.

_'My days as a duelist are over …'  
><em>

They had been Yugi's words and for some reason they sounded final to Mokuba. They marked the end of an era that he couldn't call anything else but beautiful, despite all the hardships. To that day he had hoped that Yugi once again would show up and prove to everybody that he was the best, never truly defeated. Mokuba had longed to see him face an opponent again with that challenging calm in his eyes, it would have meant that not everything had ended that day in Egypt. Now however a door slammed shut behind Mokuba. He wasn't a kid anymore, the legendary duelist was gone forever and his brother was dead.

Mokuba had refereed so many duels, but nothing had lived up to the duels where Seto or Yugi had dueled, or even Jnouchi. It was as if the real dueling had vanished from this world, as if the life had disappeared from the game. All those magnificent battles had turned into gray skirmishes of little interest to him.

"I still can't believe he gave you all his cards", Mokuba sighed, his gloom clear in his voice.

"I think that's the only way for him to end it", Theo guessed. "After all, it must be hard to be reminded of what happened again and again."

Mokuba looked Theo in the eyes and Isono looked down at the table. Not many people would have considered Seto Kaiba as a good boss, but Isono hadn't minded it. "It is", Mokuba confirmed silently. "Although neither Yugi nor I even have the possibility to forget. We can't get rid of the things that remind us about it most no matter how much we'd want to."

* * *

><p>As you all can guess, next chapter is Valentines day and since I have a vague feeling that part could be quite long I'm going to refrain from putting it here and am going to keep this chapter a little bit shorter.<p>

I was quite satisfied with Mokuba in this chapter. Everyone asks for Ryou and I throw in Mokuba, for some reason he always gets neglected in post-YGO fanfics. Although I must say, I have a bigger role planned out for Ryou than for Mokuba, so no worries.

Snow to everyone who reviews, and if they don't want snow they can feel free to send it here. (Since I deleted a chapter, you all know which one, you apparently can't review if you reviewed the previous chapter. It be nice if you could do it 'unsigned' and just put your name under it ^^)


	26. Divine Warnings

I always figure out lots of thing to write here when doing different things. Short, random and funny things, but I always forget them.

Oh, well, enjoy.

* * *

><p>Madam Puddifoot's was … well … not to Rebecca's liking. She and Peter stood together in the door opening and just gawked at the sight that met them. The place was pink, completely pink and cramped. It was decorated everywhere with frills and bows and over the round tables cherubs were hovering, throwing confetti.<p>

"Let's get out of here", Rebecca said after she had gotten over the first shock.

Peter just looked at her for a second, then eyed the room again. "The faster the better", Peter said as he saw a stout woman approaching who most likely was madam Puddifoot herself.

The two turned around quickly and walked out of the teashop. It was however not as easy to avoid the place as Rebecca had hoped for. Madam Puddifoot followed them with short but quick steps. "I'm not full yet, m'dears", she said and grabbed Rebecca by the shoulder. "It just appears that way because the place is so steamy. There are a couple more tables left. Come on, come on."

Without even waiting for an answer she put a hand on both of them and gently pushed them towards the teashop. Four years ago Rebecca would definitely have been impolite enough to have protested but the hand between her shoulder blades kept her silent. She wasn't comfortable with the woman's touch at all and she tried to shake her hand off in vain several times.

Peter noticed how uncomfortable Rebecca was and mimicked a 'sorry' to her. Rebecca ignored him until madam Puddifoot pushed each of them on a chair. "I'll be right back", she chirped and went to take Harry's and Cho's order.

"Just remember that this was your idea!" Rebecca whispered to Peter with a glare as one of the golden cherubs threw confetti on her.

"I know!" Peter called out and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, damn."

Then, simultaneously, they started to laugh. The situation they were in was quite odd, they were surrounded by talking, laughing and kissing couples who seemed completely oblivious to anything happening around them. Only Rebecca and Peter were looking at their surroundings rather than at each other.

"Don't be shy", Madam Puddifoot said as she walked towards them. "Now tell me what you want."

Rebecca and Peter exchanged a glance. Ordering would mean that they were going to stay, saying no thanks would seem rather odd, even though it was what they both wanted. Rebecca didn't like the place, it was warm and cramped and the cherubs were annoying. She was feeling more and more like a locked up animal.

In that exact moment Cho Chang's voice was heard all over the place. "Go on, leave!" She was crying and Rebecca held back the urge to laugh. This would be interesting. "I don't know why you asked me out in the first place if you're going to make arrangements to meet other girls right after me … how many are you meeting after Hermione!"

The urge to hold back her laugh became harder as she saw Harry's expression and knew that he was going to make a mistake. She just knew it … and she was right.

"It's not like that!" he said and laughed, a great mistake.

Rebecca buried her face in her hands. "You foolish fool", she whispered.

Cho sprang to her feet. The whole teashop was looking at them with mixed expressions, pity, amusement and awe. "I'll see you around Harry", she said overly dramatic and left the shop crying as the rain poured down.

Now Rebecca really couldn't help it and chuckled softly. Madam Puddifoot threw her an angry glare and Rebecca chuckled even more. The truth was that she had expected something in that style. Without deeming either of them worthy of another glance madam Puddifoot walked away from them, her head held high.

"Cho!" Harry called after her, he threw a Galleon on the table and shook his head to get rid of the pink confetti, then he hurried after her.

"You think that's funny?" Peter asked and looked at the abandoned table.

"Yeah", Rebecca said, still chuckling. "I can't help it. That was bound to go wrong anyway."

"What makes you think that?" Peter asked with a frown.

"Have you ever seen the two of them talking to each other?" Rebecca wondered skeptically.

Peter shrugged. He hadn't paid attention to them. Rebecca stood up and left the tearoom, closely followed by Peter.

"Women", they heard Harry mutter while Cho was nowhere to be seen. He was walking down the street with his hands in his pocket and kept muttering to himself.

"That went great", Rebecca said from behind him and received an angry glare.

"Don't tell me about it", Harry growled and kept walking without looking back again. Rebecca however had no problems with the fact that Harry was ignoring her and together with Peter she just followed him. Not because she was interested in whatever Harry would be meeting Hermione for but because she really had no idea where to go. When Harry started to run they lost him though.

"Becca, look at that", Peter said and pointed towards Dominic Maestro's Music Shop. "Have you ever heard the music that they play in the wizarding world?"

Rebecca shook her head. Music was not something she had ever cared for, not in the non-magical world nor in the magical one. She had often heard people speak about how much music meant, but had never understood them. Her grandfather had always listened to classical music when he was working and Rebecca had never minded that but when Raphael had moved in with them so had heavier music. It had happened quite frequently that Raphael and her grandfather had held fierce but friendly discussions on the subject of music. The music itself had however never caused a single problem, without talking about it Raphael and her grandfather had come up with an agreement. When they were eating and when her grandfather was working the house would be filled with classical music, but when Raphael was working in the house during the weekends and when Rebecca's grandfather was unoccupied the house would shake under the music by Corroded and In Flames. Rebecca hadn't been able to understand what either of them saw in the music they listened to

"No", she answered Peter. "I never have."

"You should have. It's thoroughly entertaining. A popular band in the wizarding world are The Weird Sisters, trust me, the first time I heard them I could hardly stop laughing. They played at the Yule ball last year, they're good. Shall we go inside?" Peter asked.

Rebecca nodded. She could see no harm in it and she had to admit that she was slightly interested even though she in general rule didn't care for music.

The shop wasn't packed with students, but they weren't alone either. In a corner there were a lot of radios on a neat pile costing seventeen Galleon, two Sickles and a Knut. They adapted the music they played to a persons mood and received every station in all of Great Britain. Rebecca was rather sure that she and such a radio wouldn't get along at all. There were instruments everywhere playing some happy melody by themselves.

"Hey, Peter!" a man in his mid twenties called out from behind the counter. "Long time no see!"

Peter grabbed Rebecca by the hand and pulled her towards the counter through the shop cramped with instruments, radios and other items related to music in one way or another. She followed best she could without stumbling over something.

"Rebecca, this is Tony Maestro, I worked for him during the summer. He really needs all the help he can get, he's hopelessly clumsy. A master of every instrument you can think of, but clumsy with everything else", Peter said teasingly but Tony just smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Dad would never allow me to help in the shop since I'd always drop or tip everything I touched", Tony said with a friendly smile. "The old man has been dead for two years now and I took over his shop. May his soul rest in peace", Tony said and reminded Rebecca somewhat of a seventies hippie. In a way he looked and sounded like one too. "So tell me, Rebecca, do you enjoy music?"

"I don't understand why some people feel such devotion towards it", she stated somewhat chilly.

"Aah, not cool, man. First time you bring a girl in my store Peter and she doesn't even know the importance of music", Tony said sounding extremely disappointed. Peter went red and glared at Tony who didn't get the hint at all. "I mean, how many wizards and witches haven't existed which created wonders without the help of a wand but with a guitar or with drums. It's the thing you can always rely on no matter what happens. Music, my friend, is holy", he preached.

"I still can't see why", Rebecca said coolly.

The look that appeared on Tony's face was close to desperation. "Why? Why? How is it possible that one can't feel the magic that The Weird Sisters create, or the love in the songs by Medieval Romance or … or ... " Tony started hyperventilating.

"Take it easy", Peter said and Tony searched under the counter for a paper bag. Apparently this wasn't the first time something like this happened. "He does that all the time", Peter explained. "He hates it when people don't share his opinion on music."

As soon as Tony breathed normal again he scoffed. "I don't mind what music people listen to as long as they can appreciate it!"

"Rebecca has never heard the music they play in the wizarding world. Can you let her hear some?" Peter wondered.

"Sure thing man, I've got some cool stuff in the back. Just wait until I close, than I'll let you see some good stuff." Tony winked.

* * *

><p>Monday a week after the trip to Hogwarts early in the morning a large amount of owls entered the Great Hall and that in itself wasn't odd, many students received the Daily Prophet and each of them was eager for more news on the escaped Death Eaters but Yugi noticed that a large amount of the owls were acting different from usual.<p>

Yugi, too, received a copy of the Daily Prophet and as expected; many sightings, no one captured. The anger in Yugi flared up but he didn't show it. He calmly took a sip from his still rather hot coffee but his hands were shaking. He was never sure what he felt anymore, everything was a blur of negative emotion. Very often it was guilt.

Atem could do little to help his lighter, feeling just as bad. He didn't speak anymore at all unless spoken to by Yugi first. He had felt like this only once before, when Yugi had sacrificed his soul for Atem. Then, too, no one had been able to reach through to him even though his friends had tried every way possible.

Then Yugi noticed another owl was coming their way. At first he didn't pay much attention, it happened that madam Hooch received post and thus the owl wasn't important. It was however when the owl landed in front of him and held out its claw that Yugi reacted. "You can't possibly be looking for me, can you?" Yugi whispered at the owl and checked the address just to be sure. Indeed, the owl was for him. Yugi removed the cylindrical package in brown wrapping paper with a note attached to it. Yugi took the note.

/_How odd_/ Yugi stated and Atem nodded as reply. /_Indeed_/

Yugi was surprised to find the note in Japanese and directly noticed it was from Rebecca. The girl might have been enough of a genius to learn to speak Japanese fluently already at the age of eight, but her kanji was still shaky. '_I thought you should read this before it gets forbidden. I thought you'd be interested._' Yugi raised an eyebrow, put the little paper down and moved on to the package. It turned out to contain a copy of the Quibbler.

/_Why would Rebecca send me The Quibbler?_/ Yugi wondered, not really asking anyone.

Atem pointed at the large red text on the front, his ghostly finger only visible to Yugi. HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST: THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN. /_Do you think Harry was in on that?_/

/_I hope so_/ Yugi said and opened the magazine. When he was halfway through he looked at Atem who was reading over Yugi's shoulder. /_I think he was in on it_/  
>Atem just nodded.<p>

When Yugi was done reading he noticed the havoc the owls were causing at the Gryffindor table. More and more arrived at a faster rate than the students could get rid of them. Yugi didn't have to look to know who the letters were addressed to, clearly they were addressed to Harry. Fred, George, Luna Lovegood and Hermione were all enthusiastically helping Harry open the mail. Letters from readers, Yugi realized and smiled, he wondered what they said.

Harry hadn't come to Yugi's classes once since the Monday after the Christmas break but Yugi hadn't said anything about it, he hadn't expected it. He was just grateful that the boy had gathered himself enough to do something like this. He was impressed by the article.

Just like Yugi, the other teachers were also watching the havoc on the Gryffindor table that had made most Gryffindors leave the Great Hall, they however did not understand. Dumbledore seemed to be the exception though and the Headmaster smiled somewhat proudly. Umbridge was the first to react. She stood up and walked down the isle until she stood behind Harry.

"What's going on here?" she asked and her voice made the hairs on Yugi's back stand up. It was a voice he knew he wouldn't ever forget, false as it was. "Why have you got all these letters, mr Potter?"

One of the twins glared at Umbridge and spoke loudly. "Is that a crime now? Getting mail?"

"Be careful mr Weasley, or I shall have to put you into detention", Umbridge threatened him before turning back to Harry. "Well, mr Potter?"

Harry spoke lower than Umbridge and Yugi couldn't catch his words, but eventually Harry just handed her a copy of something that could be little else than The Quibbler.

Umbridge turned violet. "When did you do this?" she asked, sounding choked. Once again Yugi couldn't catch the answer. "There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you, mr Potter. How dare you … how you could ..." Umbridge took a deep breath to calm herself down. "I've tried again and again to teach you not to tell lies. The message, apparently, has still not sunk in."

Yugi thought that this would be a good moment to intervene. He hadn't done such a thing for quite a period of time now, but he owed it to Harry. Yugi slipped from his chair unnoticed and made his way towards Umbridge. She didn't notice him coming, the students that had noticed just stared. The entire school was aware of Yugi's depression and the new teacher that had been so unbelievable colorful once had turned to a shade. Many of the students complained about him having lost his touch for teaching. Seeing him slander down the isle towards Umbridge now was something they had expected to happen when he had just arrived, not now anymore.

Yugi noticed the expecting smile that was forming on George's lips as Yugi approached, still unnoticed by Umbridge.

"... points from Gryffindor and another week worth of d ..." Umbridge raged, only to be interrupted by Yugi.

"I don't think that will be necessary. Do you?" Yugi wondered, his head held high. He was still shorter than Umbridge, but it didn't matter. He was far more intimidating than her when in this state of mind, he had gone a long way from the bullied kid to the person he was now.

The fear flashed in Umbridge's eyes. Yet she spoke: "How dare you? You are in no position to ..."

"You know damn well why I dare", Yugi hissed. "Your methods are despicable and I won't tolerate them. You might think you are superior to me, but you are not, I've never cared for ranks. In addition for that, nothing these students are doing breaks the rules of the school." Yugi looked up at Dumbledore and raised his voice. "Isn't that right?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly. Neither of the teachers at the staff table seemed to be willing to interfere in the minor showdown between Umbridge and the mysterious History teacher.

"I make the rules in this school!" she yelled, her high pitched voice unable to hide her fear. "You have no say in anything that happens in this school! You aren't even present, you show up at breakfast, dinner and in class, but otherwise you are a ghost!" Now it was pure fear that colored Umbridge's voice and her eyes were wide with that very same fear. "You pretend to be a harmless muggle but the things you can do are horrible. Worse than the worst curse, the darkest of powers! Even the students fear you!"

"That's not true!" a girl's voice called out from the other side of the room. Yugi glanced up and saw Tracey standing with both hands on the table. Her cheeks were red with anger. "He's been the only one who's had the guts to tell us the truth no matter how harsh it was! He's probably the best teacher we've ever had!"

The entire Great Hall just gawked at Tracey, who started to blush when she noticed that but she remained standing. Umbridge glared at her, forgetting her fear. "How dare you? Fifty points from Slytherin for your big mouth, you filthy half-breed! You shouldn't even be here."

Yugi sensed the surge that indicated that Atem intended to take over but Yugi stopped him. /_No, they'll notice. I'll take care of this._/

Yugi looked up at the staff table and as expected he saw anger flare in the Headmaster's eyes, but for some reason Dumbledore remained seated.

"Don't insult her!" Dean yelled angrily, "She's a hundreds time more worthy to be here than you! She was invited, I doubt you were! You are just an old hag consisting of prejudice and malice!"

Dean's way of talking to Umbridge was the most disrespectful Yugi had ever heard but he didn't care. In fact he agreed with Dean, more than Dean knew.

"Detention, the both of you!" Umbridge screamed, her face purple. "And you Mr Potter, and you mr Weasley and ..."

Yugi put his hands in pockets and glared at Umbridge. "Leave the students alone, Dolores." He was troubled by the outcome of this particular Monday morning. Some of the first years had tears in their eyes and were actually scared, however Yugi wasn't quite sure _who_ they were scared of. "I said so earlier but I have noticed before that my words don't bite on you, however, my actions do. Heed my warning Dolores, you leave the students alone, they haven't broken a single rule and in addition to that they've proven of great loyalty to each other. I might not be part of this school, Dolores, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see it prosper. Just like you, I have my reasons to be here."

"And if I ignore your warning?" she asked, although her legs had started shaking again.

Yugi's eyes flashed with anger. "I think you know." He couldn't help but smile as Umbridge shuddered. Satisfied Yugi walked out the Great Hall, well aware that he had won this feud.

As Yugi had expected Umbridge didn't completely give up, instead a new decree appeared.

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS:

_Any student found in possession of the magazine _The Quibbler_ will be expelled.  
>The above in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-seven.<br>Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor_

The students however were far too clever and soon every student and teacher in the school had read the article. They disguised their copies with different sorts of magic and Umbridge never even noticed.

Yugi was unhappy about the fact that his tongue was bound by Decree Number Twenty-six otherwise he wouldn't have doubted to say something about the article but instead he just taught them about the true reason why Friday the thirteenth was a day of bad luck. The knight templars, a subject which fascinated the fifth years, although Yugi kept it to the actual historical facts and refrained from telling them about all the mysteries and legends that surrounded the order. It would be hard to make these children understand them since most of them knew nothing about religion at all and it would take far too long to teach them.

It was the first time for a while now that Harry attended Yugi's class but Yugi was glad. The student greeted him again when they passed him and the staff too, with exception of Filch, treated him more friendly than they had in a while.

* * *

><p>The weeks passed. Yugi still didn't want to tell Rebecca what had happened but the showdown with Umbridge had been just what Yugi had needed. A reminder of why he did what he was doing. He wasn't exactly feeling better, but it was easier to walk the corridors of the school and be greeted by the many students.<p>

It pleased Rebecca to see Yugi among people again, no matter how disappointed she was by the fact that he still kept everything to himself. Aside from the fact that she was worried about her friend she was also curious to know what had happened. Rebecca was hardly a saint.

Not only Yugi, but Harry too, was doing better. Harry had started taking remedial potions again and according to Ginny he hated it. He complained almost every night about the fact that Snape gave him headaches.

Simultaneously things were getting worse for Tracey. As parents started to find out about Tracey's condition more and more protest arose about Tracey being in the school, although the werewolf only was among the students during meal-times, but apparently that was enough for parents to want her out of the school. While there were loads of students and parents who did their best to get Tracey expelled there were also a lot of students who did their best to make sure she could stay. Especially the students in the DA fought for Tracey.

Tracey received howlers and other threatening sorts of post on daily occasion and eventually she reached a point that she simply didn't open her mail unless they had a colored string attached to them. She changed the code-color every week and did her best to keep the momentarily code hidden. The howlers she received she locked up in a magically enforced locker so they could explode without doing any damage and Tracey didn't have to open them.

Violence in the school increased too and Tracey was at the center of it. In less than a week she ended up in the hospital wing three times because someone hexed her. The hexes they used on her were the most terrible Rebecca had ever seen. When Tracey at a given moment was in the hospital wing for over a week due to her injuries they decided that Tracey under no circumstance should walk alone again. From that moment someone always accompanied Tracey, they took turns in following her around. It was mostly Dean but on occasion also Peter, Rebecca, Seamus and sometimes Luna. In the beginning Tracey had been thoroughly annoyed by her friends but as she got used to it and it turned out to actually help she quite enjoyed the company.

For securities sake Tracey now slept in the Room of Requirement and she joked with them about it, claiming she probably had the best room in the castle and bragged about the fact that she was the only student in the school with a private room. These jokes were essential to make Tracey's undeniable isolation bearable and especially Dean did as much as he could to be with her. Peter and Rebecca also spent a lot of time with the two of them.

Rebecca's and Peter's relation hadn't really changed that much despite their quite successful valentine's day. Ginny and Tracey had both been disappointed, but Rebecca just didn't want to change the relationship they had. It was fine just as it was and Rebecca didn't see the need to change it. Besides that, the thought of telling Raphael that she had started dating a guy was slightly … scary. Not that she would ever admit that, least of all to herself.

Everyone noticed that Snape's mood had hit bottom too. He was furious, partly because of the never-ending attempts to harm Tracey, partly because of things no one but Snape knew about. Tracey however kept proclaiming he was a good teacher, although impatient. Every time Harry heard that he just scoffed, clearly he disagreed.

Tracey now ate at the Gryffindor table and Rebecca joined her when she left for the library when commotion was heard in the Entrance Hall. It was screaming, a woman's scream. Tracey and Rebecca looked at each other, than took a run for it.

Already many students had gathered around and more were coming every second, they had formed a ring. Rebecca spotted several teachers, among them Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, in the crowd. A woman with a wand in one hand and a sherry bottle, an empty one, in her other hand was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall. Rebecca didn't know how to describe what she saw. Professor Trelawney looked as if she was falling apart while she shrieked, two trunks looking pathetic were they had been thrown on the ground at Trelawney's feet. "No! No! This cannot be happening … it cannot … I refuse to accept it!"

Rebecca took a deep breath and most of all wanted to look away. Clearly Yugi's warning hadn't reached further than the students. Umbridge spoke, her amusement making Rebecca sick. "You didn't realize this was coming? Incapable though you are of predicting even tomorrows weather, you must surely have realized that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked?"

Rebecca saw that she wasn't the only one who looked disgusted, some others were looking frightened and many looked angry too. But the overall feeling in the crowd was shock. The entire school had been grateful that Yugi had saved them from Umbridge's terror, they hadn't expected that she would instead strike at the teachers.

"You c – can't!" Trelawney howled, crying now. "You c – can't sack me! I've b – been here sixteen years! H – Hogwarts is m – my h – home!" Slowly the Divination teacher sunk to the ground.

That last sentence could have broken Rebecca's heart, after all, she was quite a softy. But the way Professor Trelawney had sounded when she had spoken the word home. Rebecca wished she could feel such feelings for Hogwarts. How could anyone dismiss someone from their home like this? Then Rebecca spotted Yugi in the crowd. His expression clearly showed that he agreed with her but he didn't speak a word. He hid himself among the students, no one but Rebecca had noticed him yet. He was wearing a cape and the hood covered his conspicuous hair.

"It was your home, until an hour ago, when the Minister of Magic countersigned your Order of Dismissal. Now kindly remove yourself from this Hall. You are embarrassing us." The gloating joy in Umbridge's eyes was unmistakable and Rebecca wondered why Yugi didn't step forward. In that same instant someone did step forward, it was however not Yugi, it was Professor McGonagall.

She hastily walked towards Professor Trelawney, patted her on the back and handed her a handkerchief. "There, there, Sybill … calm down … blow your nose on this … it's not as bad as you think, now … you are not going to have to leave Hogwarts …"

Rebecca found Professor McGonagall quite brave to proclaim such a thing with Umbridge standing right next to her. "Oh really, Professor McGonagall? And your authority for that statement is …?"

"That would be mine."

Rebecca had only ever actually talked to the Headmaster once or twice, but she recognized his voice nonetheless. The crowd created a passage for Dumbledore as he approached Professor Trelawney.

"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" Umbridge questioned and laughed. "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister of Magic. Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation and sack any teacher she – that is to say, I – feel is not performing to the standards required by the Ministry of Magic. I have decided that Professor Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her."

Rebecca closed her eyes. This was sickening. How could anyone kick someone out in this manner with such a large audience. At least she could have dismissed Trelawney in private.

Professor Dumbledore however didn't seem bothered. "You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle. I am afraid that the power to do that still remains with the Headmaster …" Rebecca could have sworn that both Umbridge and Dumbledore hastily gazed in Yugi's direction at those words. " … and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continues to live at Hogwarts."

Then Professor Trelawney started to laugh, a laugh like that of a wild animal. "No – no, I'll g – go, Dumbledore! I sh – shall leave Hogwarts and s – seek my fortune elsewhere."

The expression of the Headmaster changed and became quit disapproving. "No. It is my wish you remain, Sybill." Dumbledore turned to McGonagall. "Might I ask you to escort Sybill back upstairs, Professor McGonagall?"

"Of course. Up you get, Sybill ..." Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout helped Trelawney back on her feet and into the castle. Professor Flitwick hurried after with the trunks levitating in front of him.

Umbridge hadn't even had time to react to anything of what had just happened, she just stared at Dumbledore. "And what", she said eventually, "are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?"

"That bitch just wants to have the satisfaction to throw someone out", Tracey whispered in Rebecca's ear and Rebecca nodded.

"Oh, that won't be a problem", Dumbledore said, still smiling. "You see, I have already found us a new Divination teacher, and he will prefer lodgings on the ground floor."

A surge of whispers went through the crowd.

Umbridge went red. "You've found –? You've found? Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Number Twenty-two –"

"The Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if – and only if – the Headmaster is unable to find one", Dumbledore finished for Umbridge. "And I am happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?" Dumbledore turned to face the open front doors and naturally so did everyone else.

Hooves approached and those nearest the front doors hastily cleared a path for the newcomer. Murmurs flooded through the Entrance Hall as they all waited for the newcomer to arrive. Rebecca gawked as a man with white-blonde hair and blue eyes entered, his torso was attached to the palomino body of a horse.

"This is Firenze. I think you'll find him suitable." Dumbledore said cheerful to a thunderstruck Umbridge.

Neither Umbridge nor the students reacted. They all just stared at Firenze who now stood in the middle of the Entrance Hall, examining the students. Then more hooves were heard and the surprise among the students grew. Umbridge glared accusing at Dumbledore, however Rebecca could tell that this time Dumbledore, too, was surprised.

These hooves sounded heavier, more ominous. Firenze had surprised them, but the centaur that entered the Entrance Hall now indulged fear. Entire he was far more muscular than Firenze and without a doubt lacked all grace. His torso was pink and his bony face stood in great contrast to his body-builder like torso. His head was a skull with skin pulled over and his short straw blonde hair was thin, as if he had suffered of famine for a long time. His torso was joined to a chestnut body of a robust horse. In one hand he carried a sickle, the sort to fight with. What worse was, Rebecca knew exactly who this was.

Her gaze met Yugi's. She wasn't the only one who recognized the newcomer.

Dumbledore spoke. "Can I request of you to put down the weapon." The second centaur turned and looked at Dumbledore, then he shook his head.  
>Without even looking back he turned around and started walking circles carefully examining the gathered crowd. When he reached Rebecca he stopped, turned and looked her in the eyes. Rebecca didn't look away but the students around her, except for Tracey, backed away hastily.<p>

"Is he here?" he asked eventually and spoke slowly.

Rebecca nodded. "Naturally._ You_ are however not supposed to be here. Go back."

He shook his head. "I don't want to! Do you know what it is like?"

"I've been told", Rebecca said and looked down at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are!" he yelled angrily and raised himself on his hind legs. Rebecca remained standing while Tracey backed away. "But none of you can do anything! All any of us can do is wait. Waiting in eternal darkness! Be prepared, little girl." Then he raised his voice so that everyone could hear him clearly. "All of you, be prepared! Darkness is among you and sorrow is forging his army!" He turned away from Rebecca and walked towards the middle of the Entrance Hall until he stood next to Firenze. "That is my prophecy!" With those last words he left the building in gallop. Halfway out the front doors he vaporized, shattered into tiny bits of darkness.

Yugi had already left the audience and Rebecca wasn't about to stay. She took advantage of the overall shock and left the Entrance Hall at once. For a moment she considered going to Yugi's room but knew that he wouldn't talk to her now. Instead she made her way down the stairs leading towards the Hufflepuff common room and tickled the pear on the painting of a fruit bowl. She quickly made her way down the staircase hidden behind the painting.

Dobby was the first one to notice her. "Miss Hawkins, ma'am?" All the elves looked up and stared for a second, then they all started bowing and curtseying. Many of them tried to hand her fruit, candy and complete dishes but she turned them all down. "No thank you", she said, "I just need a place to sleep for tonight."

* * *

><p>This chapter reaches over several weeks. You'd hardly notice but it's actually quite funny how much time passes in only once chapter in OotP. Over a month must have passed from the beginning of this chapter to the end of it.<p>

Kinda cool, isn't it?

Mystic Horseman, one of Kaiba's monsters and without a doubt one of the shadow creatures since he appeared in the Memory World Arc.

Surely, something most be worth reviewing.


	27. Shattered

Early update. This chapter is the worst one so far. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves

* * *

><p>"Now you must believe that Professor Trelawney's prophecy was real", Ron said to Hermione the morning after. "I mean first she doesn't remember what she said and now a random centaur walks into the Entrance Hall and makes a prophecy himself, in front of Rebecca Hawkins nonetheless, the childhood friend of our wonderful teacher Professor Muto."<p>

They were sitting in an abandoned classroom while the rest of the school was eating breakfast. The place was cramped with tables and other things of which Harry didn't know what they were.

"_Darkness is among you and sorrow is forging his army_", Hermione repeated. "Do you know how many people here are driven by sorrow. Neville, for example, that's why he is improving at such a fast rate."

"Oh, yeah. And Neville is darkness personified", Ron said sarcastically. "Do you remember what Professor Muto told us? Neither he nor the Pharaoh himself would deny that the Pharaoh is a dark person! Those were the Professor's own words, Hermione!"

"So, let's just say that Professor Trelawney's prophecy was real – it's happened before – and that it is about Professor Muto and the Pharaoh, then try to interpret it", Hermione suggested. "Just give it a shot."

Neither Ron nor Harry protested. Hermione's dislike for Divination was so great that Harry hadn't expected her to go along with it this far. Harry once again wrote down the prophecy on a piece of parchment so they'd have easier to play around with it.

_The old and the grieving are in the castle … They seek what destroys and anticipate its arrival ... Yet never will they find what they seek … Another loss will be suffered at the hands of the same … The possibilities are two separate ways … What one sees as a weakness the others see as a strength … If they switch places the darkness will return into his heart and the grieving will lose his light._

Underneath he wrote the words of the second centaur.

_Darkness is among you and sorrow is forging his army_

"This centaur was one of the shadow creatures? Wasn't he?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded. There was no doubt about it, the second centaur could under no circumstance be a regular centaur. He hadn't behaved like one and no regular centaur would have shattered into small pieces of darkness.  
>"A stolen soul", Hermione sighed. "No wonder he was so angry."<p>

"I wonder why he caused such a commotion?" Ron said. "Do you think he wants us to know what's going on?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I doubt it. Remember what the Witch said? I think he was warning us." Harry pointed at the paper. "The possibilities are two separate ways. Perhaps the shadow creatures know where they each lead to and try to manipulate it to their advantage."

"And they want to destroy the powers of the shadows", Hermione sighed. "But is it guaranteed that they all want that? Perhaps they are fighting amongst themselves."

"That's something we can't know, but perhaps it doesn't matter", Ron said with a frown. "As long as they are convinced they can't do anything but wait we should use their waiting to figure out what the hell is going on and what they are waiting for. Which brings us back to Trelawney's prophecy."

"How are you going to interpret it?" Hermione wondered.

Harry and Ron looked at her for a minute. "What makes you think we know how to do it?" Ron wondered incredulous and stared at the brunette.

"You are the ones taking Divination, are you not?" she said with a snappy tone.

Ron and Harry didn't really know what to answer. "I suppose we just have to guess our way through it", Harry said eventually.

"Go ahead", Hermione said distasteful and crossed her arms.

"_The old and the grieving are in the castle_", Harry said and frowned. "The old one is the Pharaoh and the grieving is Professor Muto, since he's lost all his friends. Killed by a Death Eater. According to what Professor Muto told Hermione the Pharaoh would be five-thousand years old. That's old enough to be called 'The old'", Harry said, pretty pleased with his simple yet logical explanation.

Ron nodded enthusiastically but Hermione sighed. "Let's just say that Professor Muto isn't the Pharaoh like he claims, which I can believe considering the way he talks about him, then where in the castle would the Pharaoh be hiding?" she wondered skeptically.

"Hermione, the castle is enormous, how could we possibly find anyone who hides inside it?" Ron wondered, as if she was completely mental.

"The marauders map", Hermione suggested. "Ghosts show up on it, don't they?" She shook her head as the boys stared at her in disbelief.

Harry could have beaten himself up. Hermione's plan was as simple as it was brilliant. "The map is in my dorm", Harry sighed. "We can go check during lunch. What about the rest of the Prophecy?"

_They seek what destroys and anticipate its arrival …_

Ron shrugged. "I've already told you what I think of that. What destroys more than vengeance does? Professor Muto is the kind of person who would avenge those he cares for. Just look at what he did to Umbridge when she tried to kill Tracey and he hardly knows her. Imagine if his best friend would be killed, he'd avenge them, no doubt."

"Sounds reasonable", Hermione said.

_Yet never will they find what they seek … _

Harry looked at that line a while. It was, to the two boys' surprise, Hermione who made an interpretation of that line. "Doesn't seem so hard. He won't be able to get his revenge. Perhaps he isn't able to find the person he is looking for."

"Or he is killed", Harry whispered and pointed at the next line. "It would fit."

_Another loss will be suffered at the hands of the same …_

"That would really be horrible", Ron said and didn't notice that Harry and Hermione exchanged a gaze. Neither of the two knew what to think about the Professor, especially considering he been in their memories from before they were born, something that was quite conspicuous.

"Has he ever told us exactly who killed his friends?" Hermione wondered.

Ron frowned. "No, he just said it was a servant of You-Know-Who."

"So for all we know Snape could poison him?" Harry said dryly.

Ron started to laugh and received glares from his friends. "What? It's funny. There isn't a way that Snape is going to poison Professor Muto. He hates Umbridge far too much and no one makes Umbridge suffer worse than Professor Muto does."

Harry smirked but Hermione kept shaking her head. "Suffer another loss doesn't have to mean that someone is going to die", Hermione whispered eventually. "I hope they prophecy means something different than another death."

Ron and Harry sat silent for a while. They hadn't even thought about how ominous the prophecy was. They had seen it as a key to figure out Professor Muto's secrets, but in fact the prophecy didn't seem to be telling them anything new about the Professor but was rather telling them that the former King of Games wasn't done suffering.

Ron sighed, then smiled and said to lighten the mood: "Don't worry, Hermione, you believe it to be rubbish anyway."

Hermione glared at Ron and then read the last three sentences out loud.

"_The possibilities are two separate ways … What one sees as a weakness the others see as a strength … If they switch places the darkness will return into his heart and the grieving will lose his light._"

"So this means two possible outcomes. Clearly the Shadow creatures are waiting for the outcome", Harry said. "From what the Witch said they want to destroy the power of the shadows the Pharaoh controls."

"And Dumbledore wants to use it to aid us in our war against You-Know-Who", Hermione sighed. "I'm not sure which option I like better." She sat down on one of the chairs and looked around. "The power he possesses … It was powerful enough to defeat entire armies. He could easily destroy the castle, easily destroy the world. Without that power our battle against You-Know-Who will most likely kill us all and demolish the school."

"Use it first, then destroy it", Ron suggested.

"Despicable", Hermione said and shook her head. "That's just … No, we could just as well sink to Voldemort's level at once."

Ron looked shocked. As soon as he got over the shock his expression turned to fear. He buried his face in his hands. "You're right. I don't know …"

"We're all stressed and worried Ron, but I agree with Hermione, you can't do such a thing. It's indeed despicable", Harry said and patted his friend on the back.

_What one sees as a weakness the others see as a strength … If they switch places the darkness will return into his heart and the grieving will lose his light._

Harry turned his attention back towards the prophecy. Ron gladly threw himself over the interpretation again, still embarrassed. All three of them stared at the two remaining sentences.

"Good luck", Hermione said after a couple of minutes and in annoyance pushed the parchment of the table. Harry just picked it up again.

"The grieving … Professor Muto. What did Trelawney mean by losing his light?" Harry wondered.

"I don't see how Professor Muto could be classified as light at all, mate", Ron said. "He is a very gloomy person, if you ask me."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know Ron, perhaps this prophecy isn't about Professor Muto at all. Perhaps it is just another of Trelawney's lies."

"Not possible", Harry snapped angrily and paced back and forth . "You weren't there Hermione! She sounded just like the last time! Just because Professor Muto isn't a saint doesn't mean he isn't the light the prophecy is talking about. How much do we know? We've got no idea!" He put his hands in his hair in a frustrated gesture while he kept pacing. "The prophecy is real! We just don't know what it means yet! I need to know what's up with that guy!"

Hermione knew how Harry was feeling. She needed to know who Professor Muto was and what he was doing just as desperately as him, but she could control herself better.

"Why are you so scared of him?" Ron asked eventually. He had asked Harry a hundred times why he had refused to go to Professor Muto's classes but Harry had always refrained from answering and had only remarked that he was going now, so Ron shouldn't complain. Now he was tired of being the only one not knowing what the hell was going on.

"Ron", Hermione whispered. "Do you remember when Professor Muto taught us about the concentration camps?"

"Yes", was Ron's immediate answer, then his mind went blank. "Or actually no. I mean, I don't know."

"Our memories have been altered, Ron and when Snape tried to teach Harry Occlumency his memory returned. Those memories we have forgotten, they are so terrible ..." Hermione couldn't finish.

"But then how come you know them?" Ron asked, still confused.

"When Harry went nearly catatonic and wouldn't talk to us I went to see Snape", Hermione explained. "I've never seen Snape so shocked before. He helped me retrieve my own memories at my own request. They were horrible. All these nightmares I've had, they all turned out to be real. Or at least, real to us."

Ron's expression turned to that of horror as he thought about his own nightmares. "No, that can't be. They can't be true. The things I did … But that was sixty years ago, we can't have memories from that time!"

"Professor Muto told us about the concentration camps, but we didn't hear what he said, we _lived_ what he said. We suffered from PTSD, we still do even, but we didn't know it since we couldn't know why. The moment we stopped living it we forgot we had. You remember almost having a nervous breakdown, and Parvati was hysterical, not just because of something we heard. We felt the torture, the famine, the fear and even death, we just don't remember it. Except for Harry and I", Hermione said, desperately trying to make Ron understand.

"I burned you", Ron whispered, still thunderstruck and stared at Hermione.

Hermione nodded. "I was gassed to death. People couldn't move since it was so cramped, children were crying and the last thing any of us saw were gasmasks before they turned out the lights. It was burning hot in there, with all the people and eventually no one of us could breath anymore and everything went black. I'm one of the few people in this world who has been gassed to death but yet lived to tell the tale. I remember it all even though I wish I didn't."

"But how?" Ron asked.

Hermione shrugged but Harry glared at the wall and spoke: "I have no idea, what I do know is that Professor Muto has the answer. You know, he was there, he was supposed to help me learn Occlumency. But when Snape penetrated my conscious and found those hidden memories Professor Muto didn't even ask what was going on, he knew, you could see in his eyes that he knew and he was crying. He cried and his expression was guilt, he was devastated but all he told me was to go. Whatever happened during that lecture, Professor Muto didn't intend it. I suppose that the shadows did that, I don't know, what else could it have been?"

"Professor Muto cried?" Ron asked incredulous.

Hermione couldn't help it, she laughed, a short and broken laughter.  
>Harry nodded. "Yes, he cried."<p>

"I can't get a grip around that", Ron said. "No, Professor Muto doesn't cry."

"Of course he does", Hermione said. "He's only human."

* * *

><p>Rebecca didn't get it. She could hardly do the Stunning Charm, how in the world was she supposed to do the Patronus Charm? Especially when Harry kept reminding them that producing a Patronus in a bright classroom was something completely different from conjuring one while being confronted by a Dementor.<p>

Naturally Rebecca had been the only one without the slightest idea what a Dementor was and when she asked everyone just stared at her. "What?" she had asked them, not appreciating the stares. Harry had calmly explained it to her and when she knew what a Dementor was she hadn't exactly found it any easier to produce a Patronus.

The subject on the second centaur had become banned, it was Firenze who had told his students that if anyone wanted to know what the centaur had been doing there they could talk to him. Surely the other students were more wary around Rebecca, but at least they didn't ask questions. Rebecca knew she should have gone to see Firenze, but she hadn't, she didn't really want to know.

Harry had showed them his Patronus and Rebecca had to admit, they looked impressive. So each and every DA member worked on his or her Patronus like animals, every lesson again and again. Tracey only needed two lessons before she could show of her Patronus, which to everyone's great surprise was a dolphin. For some reason Rebecca had expected it to be a wolf, but then again, Tracey actually didn't like being a werewolf and having a wolf as Patronus would have been some sort of evil joke.

Luna also learned fairly quickly and a shimmering blue hare spouted from the tip of her wand. Peter had to struggle to learn it, like most others.

"You have to think about something happy, the best memory you've got!" Harry reminded them.

And that was the problem. Rebecca didn't have that many happy memories, every time she thought about her friends she was reminded about their cruel fate. She had some great memories from the summer after they defeated Leviathan, but she couldn't stick to those memories, her mind wandered on.

When Hermione's silver otter gamboled through the air Rebecca had had enough.

Rebecca concentrated on the promise she had made Yugi, that one day she would duel him again. There had been so much hope in that promise, she had dreamed of that, longing to fight Yugi again. "_Expecto Patronus_!" she yelled and the entire room fell silent.

It was common knowledge that a Patronus took the form of an animal, any animal. The silver figure in front of Rebecca was no animal, Rebecca gawked as in front of her Luster Dragon #2 appeared. He was without a doubt a Patronus, yet he also was without a doubt a direct copy of Luster Dragon #2. Rebecca wasn't sure she liked this turn of events. The huge dragon turned to look at her, then dissolved.

Everyone still stared at the spot where the dragon had floated in mid-air. When he was gone they looked at Rebecca instead. "That's not possible!" Lavender cried out.

"Yes, it is", Hermione said calmly and to Rebecca's relief everyone stared at her instead. "Rebecca's magical abilities were latent for such a long time that they have developed differently from ours. It's no surprise she has an unusual Patronus, the History books are filled with people whose ability was latent for too long but later turned out to be able to do extraordinary things. This includes reading minds, like Legilimens, but developed so that the person in question could do it just like that. People immune against Dementors or being able to see Thestrals without having seen someone die. A dragon as Patronus rather than an animal isn't that surprising when it comes to Rebecca."

Rebecca could have hugged the brunette for her words although she doubted that Hermione's explanation was accurate when it came to her. She feared it had more to do with the Dominion reaching out to their world. How better than like this?

Then the door to the Room of Requirement opened and to Rebecca's surprise Dobby entered. He quickly made his way towards Harry. The last Patronuses in the room disappeared.

"Harry Potter, sir …" Dobby squeaked, trembling. "Harry Potter, sir … Dobby has come to warn you … but the house-elves have been warned not to tell ..." He ran head first at the wall. Harry quickly tried to restrain him but was too late, his eight hats however saved him from any damage.

"What's happened, Dobby?" Harry asked, gazing intensely into the eyes of the elf while holding the elf's arm to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself.

"Harry Potter … she … she …" With his free hand Dobby grabbed one of his earrings and started pulling at it.

Before Harry even had the chance to react Rebecca's voice went through the room sharply. No one else but Dobby understood since Rebecca spoke Japanese. "That would be a disgrace, Dobby."

The elf stopped pulling at once. "Excuse Dobby?" The elf still spoke English.

"You received that gift of a five-thousand year old Pharaoh as a token of friendship. Hurting yourself with those would be disgracing Atem, yourself and most importantly the friendship you share. It would be a despicable act!"

Dobby stared at Rebecca wide-eyed and then nodded slowly. "Yes, Rebecca Hawkins is right. It would be … It would be." With those words Dobby ceased all attempts to harm himself.

"Who is she, Dobby?" Harry pressed on, after giving Rebecca a grateful yet troubled glance. "Umbridge?"

Dobby nodded.

"What about her? Dobby – she hadn't found out about this – about us – about the DA?" Dobby didn't need to answer, it was written all over his face. "Is she coming?"

Dobby howled. "Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"

Everyone gazed at the elf, petrified. "What are you waiting for? Run!" Harry bellowed

They all ran head over heels towards the exit and sprinted through the corridors. Rebecca kept running, uncertain about where to go. She was one of the last ones to get out of the Room of Requirement and together with Peter she headed for the dorms, taking a detour to stay out of the obvious paths. Unfortunately enough their persecutors had counted on that and soon Rebecca and Peter were being followed by Millicent Bulstrode. A Trip Jinx missed Rebecca by a hair but when she turned a corner she ran into Crabbe who with a surprising amount of conviction yelled _epidimenta _and hit Rebecca straight in the chest with the Jinx. Rebecca couldn't move anymore. Crabbe repeated his spell and hit Peter on his shoulder, knocking him backwards.

Millicent walked towards them and smiled. "I believe that will be detention for you."

* * *

><p>Yugi had no idea why he had been called to the Headmaster's office now. There had gone several weeks since his confrontation with Umbridge and he doubted it could be about that. The only thing Yugi could imagine was the Mystic Horseman and he wasn't sure he liked that. He just calmly made his way up towards the staircase, wondering why. It had been slightly odd that it had been madam Hooch who had send him the message, telling him that the Headmaster wanted to see him and on such a short notice of time.<p>

Without being all too suspicious of why the door was open he knocked and received a muffled 'come in' and only vaguely noticed that the voice didn't quite sound like that of the Dumbledore. He entered the room and was surprised to see all the people there. McGonagall was standing next to Dumbledore, looking rather angry although she tried to hide it. Professor Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk with serene expression and his hands folded although his expression turned to surprise when he saw Yugi. A young man who couldn't be anything else than a part of the Weasley family was standing close to the wall holding a quill and a scroll of parchment. Two men were standing next to the door like guards, one was tall with dark skin and the other had wiry hair and looked rather tough. The man who was standing next to the fire Yugi did recognize, he had seen him several times in the articles of The Daily Prophet. It was Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic and at his feet sat a house-elf.

"What …?" Yugi started but when he saw the anger in McGonagall's face turn to alarm he cut himself of and looked behind him. The wizard with the wiry hair had raised his wand and was aiming for him. Yugi dived to the side and the Full Body-Bind Curse missed him. Yugi hit the wall next to the red-head with the quill. "What the hell?" he breathed as he crawled to his feet.

"Don't move", the dark-skinned man said while Yugi straightened himself.

The Japanese ignored the man and looked at Dumbledore. "What is going on here?"

"Yugi, for your own good, do as they tell you. They won't hesitate to harm you", on the surface the Headmaster sounded calm but underneath Yugi heard a plea that he would listen to the Headmaster's words.

"_Immobulus!_" the tough-looking man yelled and hit Yugi full in the chest. For a second everything went cold and his vision black. When his vision returned and the cold disappeared he tried to turn his head to glare at the man who had cast the spell but he couldn't move anymore.

/_I can't move!_/ Yugi told Atem alarmed, /_not a finger_/

/_What is going on?_/ Atem asked him and the spirit showed up next to Yugi.

Then the elf began to squeak. "He is there, he is there! Lizzie sees him! He is there!"

Cornelius Fudge looked at his elf in appreciation. "Where, Lizzie, where?"

The house-elf pointed to the spot where Atem was standing next to Yugi. "They look alike, but he's more scary."

"What's the Horcrux?" the Minister asked eagerly.

Lizzie pointed at the Millennium Puzzle. "He is in that thing."

Yugi had a thousand questions and a thousand unfriendly things to say.

"What's a Horcrux, Lizzie?" Atem asked with a smooth but dangerous tone.

"Cornelius Fudge, sir, can Lizzie say something?" Lizzie wondered shyly and looked up at the Minister who was looking rather smug. He was clearly enjoying himself.

Professor McGonagall was talking to Dumbledore, quickly and with low voice. From her tone Yugi could tell that she was upset, disbelieving and slightly frightened. She cast the puzzle a wary look but shook her head.

The Minister looked at his elf and for a moment Yugi thought he'd tell her to shut up, but instead he nodded. "He … he wants to know what a Horcrux is."

"Cornelius", Dumbledore said with a low voice, "allow the two of them to talk for themselves. It is their right."

The Minster turned around with fire in his eyes. "You knew about this?" he yelled accusing and pointed at Dumbledore. "You have known all along that this man was in possession of a Horcrux and you didn't tell anyone? That's against the law!"

Dumbledore remained calm. "Let them speak, Cornelius."

The Minister first glared at Dumbledore, then at McGonagall who nodded, then at Yugi, then at the two at the door and finally at Yugi again. "Listen to me", he said eventually and spoke directly to Yugi. "I will tell my employee to release you from the Freezing Charm but instead he will bind you with invisible ropes. If you move during that process only once we will use methods that could turn out to be lethal."

McGonagall made an angry noise. "Minister! He's barely an adult! You can't do such a thing! He's never harmed anyone!"

Atem hissed and looked at Lizzie. /_Tell your master that if he does such a thing he will cal upon a wrath that he nor anyone else can control, understood!/_

/_Atem, it's okay!_/ Yugi said quickly, /_don't threat him, it will only make things worse._/ Despite his rather sensible words Yugi was furious.

/_Forget it/_ Atem told Lizzie, _/Just tell him we'll go along with it./_

"They'll go along with it", Lizzie said silently and looked at the ground.

Yugi was grateful that he could shift himself slightly so he could see the whole room and not only the Headmaster and the Minister. Within a second however he felt invisible ropes tighten around his body and found it hard to breathe, but ignored it.

"Are you Yugi Muto?" Cornelius asked him with a hostile tone.

"Yes", Yugi answered. "That would be me."

"Are or are you not in the possession of a Horcrux?" Cornelius asked, cutting to the chase rather quickly. "We have received a tip from a reliable source that you do."

"That would be hard to tell, Minister", Yugi said, not able to refrain from speaking the title with scorn. He felt the ropes tighten and he turned his head to glare at the man with the wiry hair. The ropes loosened a bit. "I have no idea what a Horcrux is."

"A Horcrux is the darkest kind of magic. By an act of evil you rip your soul in half and lock one of these pieces in an object called a Horcrux. This makes that even if you where to be killed you wouldn't die since a part of your soul still lives on. However such an existence, can hardly be called for alive", the Headmaster explained.

"Thank you", Yugi said, then turned to the Minister. "No, I am not in the possession of a Horcrux."

"The artifact around your neck contains a soul, don't try to deny it", Cornelius spat and walked closer to Yugi.

"I didn't deny that. I denied having a Horcrux. The soul in the puzzle is whole and was put there as a sacrifice", Yugi said sounding calmly although his fury could be seen in his amethyst eyes.

"You see, Cornelius, Professor Muto is possessed. He has nothing to do with Horcruxes", Dumbledore explained calmly

"Possessed!" the Minister yelled raving mad. "I know he is possessed! What I don't know is how you could allow a possessed person to teach at Hogwarts? Are you insane? He could have killed the students."

"Well, Cornelius, you have been telling everyone I'm insane since the beginning of the year so I hardly need to answer that question", Dumbledore said with a pleasant smile. "In addition to that I have met the spirit possessing young mister Muto and I must say, although he is hardly friendly he is of no harm … as long as you are on his good side and I must say … I believe the students are the only ones here who are on his good side."

"A possession is a possession!" Fudge spat.

"Well, that's just it. A regular possession is indeed dangerous for the people around and most of all for the person possessed. The possessing spirit tends to be a rather dangerous being as he is heartless enough to take someone's life away."

At those words Atem looked away from Yugi and Yugi realized that even after eight years Atem still felt guilty for taking Yugi's life in such a way. /_You shouldn't feel guilty._/

/_Every day I am reminded of what I did to you. Had I not entered your life everyone you cared for would still have been alive and you wouldn't have been here. You wouldn't have been put through all that suffering. I only destroy things, Yugi_/

Yugi didn't know what to say and Dumbledore just went on. "But in this case the spirit of the puzzle was forced to share a body with Yugi and he has told me that he is well aware that this isn't his life but that of Yugi."

Yugi laughed, short and harsh. "That sounds like him, alright." Everyone ignored him, except for Professor McGonagall who looked at him with weary and sad eyes.

"The bond these two share is not understandable for someone who hasn't experienced such a bond himself. They are closer than brothers, closer than partners even."

"It remains a possession. Lizzie, take that puzzle!" the Minister ordered cold-hearted and Lizzie slowly approached Yugi.

/_Partner?_/ Atem asked worried.

/_Go ahead_/ Yugi said and retrieved to his soul room.

The Minster's eyes widened as he saw the change and Lizzie hastily ran back to her master's feet. Professor McGonagall inhaled sharply and clasped a hand over her mouth now that she could see it too.

Atem didn't speak, he just glared at every person in the room, waiting for someone to say anything.

"Who are you?" the Minister asked eventually.

"I am the darkness you sense", Atem said with a smirk. "I am little else but a dark and tortured soul, used as a willing sacrifice to lock away that darkness, tasked to destroy it. When having done so I will be allowed to pass into the afterlife."

"What sort of darkness?" Cornelius asked, sweat was starting to appear on his brow. He was quite clearly scared although Atem was bound.

"The darkest power that exists in this world, darker than anything you can imagine and once used to rip people's soul in half and to punish those weak of heart. A power that can make illusions become real, that requires so much of your mental strength that it could kill you if you attempted to use it", Atem said and chuckled as the Minister looked more and more horrified. "And then there are those who call Voldemort the Dark Lord." Atem's smile disappeared just as sudden as it had appeared and he closed his eyes.

"On who's side are you?" the Minister asked accusing. "On our's or that of this madman …"

Atem opened his eyes and his demonic red gaze met that of the Minister. "I am on no one's side, I don't have the freedom to choose such a thing. This is Yugi's life, after all. Now tell me, why am I tied up? Why was I called here?"

"Beings – or actually you classify as a spirit since you already have departed – like you are classified as a number 5 case. Possessing spirits are ruthless killers and can't be trained or domesticated. Beings like you are destroyed. We are here to free Yugi Muto from his possession but when we heard the soul of the 'spirit' was in an object what else could we think then him holding a Horcrux, but now that matter is solved we can go back to the matter at hand", Cornelius said gravely although Atem could tell he was enjoying himself.

"You are here … to separate me from Yugi and destroy me?" Atem sounded choked. He didn't know whether to be furious or frightened.

/_No!_/ Yugi cried out and appeared next to Atem. /_They can't!_/ He had tears in his eyes and Atem was pleased to see that Yugi looked the way he had before everything had gone to hell.

/_It will be alright, hikari_/

"Yes, that's the idea. Normally this would require taking the possessed person too and submitting him to a slow and painful process to free him, but since your soul is tied to an object it will be easier. You are a dangerous creature, Yugi will only be able to live properly if you are gone. Doing this is protecting our citizens, it's our duty", Cornelius Fudge said with a pleasant smile, although his eyes glowed with malevolent pleasure.

"No!" McGonagall cried out. "This isn't protecting your citizens, this is murder!"

"Possessing spirits surpass your knowledge, Minerva", the Minister said condescending. "He is probably forcing Yugi to convince everyone who knows that their relationship is friendly, but our knowledge of these kind of despicable beings is that they only submit their hosts to lives of fear and torture. This is no exception, you too must feel the darkness coming from this being in front of you, Minerva?" He did his best to win her over, his voice was soft and persuasive.

"Well, yes but he said …"

The Minster cut her off. "That's it. He said! You can't trust what such a being says! You know what it means when a being is rated a five. They go right next to transformed werewolves and Dementors! He'll rip your throat in your sleep!"

"But he's been here since the beginning of the term and no one has come to harm!" she continued to protest.

"Is that true. Why did all the fifth year Gryffindor and Slytherins end up in the hospital wing with signs of PTSD. Dolores reported that to me. And Dolores herself, she was hysterical after something this foul creature did to her, she and the students were just too frightened to tell anyone. This 'spirit' has caused harm to all of Hogwarts. It is highly likely Professor Muto is a fine teacher, but he can't stay unless we free him of this darkness."

Atem had to hand it to him, the Minister was extremely persuasive and for a moment even Atem felt like believing him. Yugi shouted: /_Like hell, Atem! You sacrificed your life and afterlife to save your people and you gave me the best friend a person could have! You should not feel guilty and least of all listen to this jerk standing there trying to convince you that you are a foul creature. You were a good Pharaoh, a Pharaoh, where is your dignity?!_/

Atem looked at the ground. "Is that all you have to say? Is everything I say made up anyway?" He was talking to the Minister, but didn't look at him.

The Minister was still nervous, but his fear had decreased. "Yes, you would make up anything, no dignified creature would possess anyone!"

"I suppose not", Atem said. "But what makes you think I'd let you take me willingly. I possess powers you can hardly think of."

"In that case we will be forced to harm the young man you possess to the point where you are harmless, that could mean we'd have to kill him. I doubt that you would be able to control a dead body", the Minister said with a calm smile. Atem hated the smile already, it was almost as bad as Umbridge's giggle. "Kingsley, take the puzzle!" he ordered.

Atem didn't miss the look the Headmaster and the dark-skinned man exchanged. He was a spy of Dumbledore Atem realized and sighed. It meant that he couldn't harm him, at least preferably not. The Minister had chosen wisely.

Kingsley looked Atem in they eyes and the spirit knew that he couldn't affect the course of events in a way desirable anymore. He retrieved to his soul room and there was Yugi, waiting for him. /_Why don't you fight them?_/

Atem took Yugi's hand and shook his head. /_No, like this you'll be free._/

/_If I had wanted to be free I would have taken the puzzle, smashed it into pieces and thrown it into __the nearest trashcan!_/ Yugi yelled angrily, still crying. /_If they take you away I'll have no one!_/

/_You'll have Rebecca_/ Atem said, /_And you could go look for Ryou and Mokuba_/

/_And what about Lucius Malfoy? And what about Rebecca, should we leave her to fight this war alone? She's muggle-born, they'll kill her! Ryou and Mokuba will have moved on with their lives! In comparison to you they mean nothing! You are my partner, my brother, my _Aibou_!_/ Yugi fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably. /_They can't take you, please fight. We aren't done yet._/

Atem's gaze narrowed, then he nodded. /_You are right. I'll fight them, but that will justify their actions_/

/_I don't care_/ Yugi said. /_If they destroy you … _/ Yugi couldn't finish his sentence.

Atem took control again and realized he had allowed Yugi to be spaced out for far too long. Kingsley was already holding the chain of the Millennium Puzzle, he was looking into the empty eyes clearly confused about how Yugi had spaced out. He took some frightened steps back as the red eyes regained awareness of the world.

"If you remove that pendant I will not hold back my fury on you", Atem snarled.

"Just take it!" the Minister yelled but when he saw that Kingsley was backing up he pulled his wand. Atem waited tensely for what Cornelius would do, but the Minister didn't say anything. Then a purple … something … shot from the Ministers wand and caught the chain of the puzzle. Atem had been too slow, had spent too much time debating with Yugi. With a yank the puzzle was ripped from Yugi and the purple rope-like thing landed it in Cornelius' hand.

/_Atem!_/ he heard Yugi cry out just before their bond broke. The Shadows, the mightiest power on this earth, a power which had destroyed entire armies had failed to protect its wielder. Atem almost laughed at the thought, I just was unprepared he thought and then everything turned black.

"No!" Yugi cried out aloud. The Invisible Rope Charm disappeared and Yugi fell to his knees, crying. "No", he sobbed again. "You can't have …"

A roar was heard in the room and out of nowhere Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts was showing his teeth. He stared at the Minister but before either Gazelle or the Minister could react the tough-looking man raised his wand and yelled an incantation which made a rope of fire appear and snaked itself around the beasts. Gazelle roared in pain and Yugi knew that Gazelle had come by his own device, but nonetheless, since Gazelle was a real Shadow Creature hurting him would hurt Atem.

"No!" Yugi yelled again but the man just went on until Gazelle shattered into tiny pieces of darkness.

Several more creatures appeared, among them Curse of Dragon, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, Queen's knight, Buster Blader, Silver Fang and Berformet. Silver Fang turned his head up and howled, it was a howl that went through skin and bone and Yugi shuddered. Each and every one of them looked alarmed and didn't make a threat but no one seemed to care. Both the tough-looking man and the Minister attacked the beasts. With several destructive spells they destroyed one after the other.

Yugi, who knew how much it would hurt Atem just couldn't stop begging them to stop. Eventually his pleas just turned to silent prayers that it would end. That he could just wake up and realize it had all been just a bad dream.

Yugi didn't follow the rest of the events. He noticed that Umbridge entered, holding Harry by his arm. Umbridge wildly started to cast her accusations when she noticed Yugi lying on his knees, still crying. Yugi saw her triumphant smile trough his tears and realized that it had been she who had figured out his secret.

She had won, she had made her move and now Atem was gone.

"What is he doing here?" she asked the Minister and pointed at Yugi.

"Nothing", the Minister said and smashed the puzzle against the fire-place, Lizzie quickly started to collect the pieces.

Yugi screamed. It was a wordless scream, the kind that would haunt them all at night. With the puzzle Yugi's world had shattered.

"Kingsley, you can show him out, can't you?"

"No, no", Umbridge said with a gloating smile. "I'll do it." With those words she walked towards Yugi. "Up you go, dear", she said falsely and lifted Yugi by his arm.

"Be careful!" McGonagall said furiously, knowing she was powerless against the Minister and Umbridge.

"He's in shock", the Minister said. "Once he gets over it he'll realize that he is better of without that despicable creature."

"Don't talk about him like that", Yugi spat. "He was a better person than any of you here." He didn't know what to do, he had never felt like this. Was this how it had felt for Atem when he had lost Yugi? This kind of suffering, Yugi couldn't stand it. He'd lost the person who he had cared most for.

As Umbridge dragged him to his feet like a rag doll his gaze met Harry's. The student was in just as much shock at seeing what he saw as McGonagall. Yugi closed his eyes and allowed himself to be led outside by Umbridge. She followed him out the office and down the stairs past the gargoyle. "I won", she whispered and let go of Yugi. He sacked to the ground there and buried his hands in his face. Yeah, she had won.

* * *

><p>I'm expecting a certain amount of dislike. Which is completely understandable, if I read a fic in which someone would do something like this to Atem I'd rip them to shreds. A the anonymity of the Internet ... or something.<p> 


	28. Bad Morning

Yugi woke up, realizing it all had been a bad dream …  
>Nhe, keep dreaming you guys. That's not how it goes.<p>

I didn't wait with updating this story for so long just because – like Marik puts it so wonderfully – I'm an evil bitch, baby, but because school has finally come to and end and I've been working like a dog to tie the loose ends together.

At the same time listening to the wonderful phenomenon called 'Leather Pants' while trying to write doesn't work. I must however say that Marik is the one of the YGOTAS cast who sings best.

* * *

><p>Rebecca was less than pleased to see the sign on the notice board when she woke up that morning.<p>

BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

_Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
>The above in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight.<br>Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic. _

With the gloomy feeling the sign left she went down to the Great Hall while listening in to the other students who were spreading the rumor. Before she even had reached the Great Hall she knew that Dumbledore had fled the school and had overcome two Aurors, Umbridge, the Minister of Magic and his Junior Assistant and the only two students who had been there were Marietta and Harry and since Hermione's jinx had worked perfectly Marietta was now in the Hospital Wing with the word 'sneak' written over her face.

After she had figured out that much Rebecca knew she only had to wait to receive a more detailed story. She'd ask Dean or Tracey when they had heard more, they were bound to.

The post owls arrived, delivering The Daily Prophet everywhere. Rebecca, who had never subscribed to the Daily Prophet since she didn't feel it was worth supporting, had simply expected it to be an article about Dumbledore's escape and that he now was wanted, or something in that style. She waited patiently until someone was done reading and handed her a copy. That was the way it worked. Around a third of the Ravenclaws received The Daily Prophet every morning and when they were done reading they just passed it down to someone who didn't.

Rebecca wasn't really aware of anything around her as she waited for the Daily Prophet's words on last night's events. What bothered Rebecca most was what the Minister of Magic himself had been doing in Hogwarts? Had he been interested enough in Dumbledore's Army to go to such lengths to capture them? Did he so desperately want to get rid of Harry? She had read the Daily Prophet, but yet it seemed slightly odd for the Minister to come rushing over to Hogwarts after a tip from a student.

While she was pondering over what could have happened and was waiting to get her hands on a copy of the Daily Prophet she started to feel slightly uncomfortable. It felt as if needles were pricking her over her entire body and she started to shift nervously. It was when she noticed that the entire Great Hall was awfully quiet that she looked up and saw that the entire school was staring at her.

The phrase 'not again' went through her head and she almost felt the urge to laugh. This kind of quiet meant something bad had happened and considering they were all staring at her there was no doubt who it was about. The Ravenclaw opposite her was also staring and he had completely abandoned his Daily Prophet. Rebecca snatched it away and stared at the cover, afraid of what she would see.

ARREST OF POSSESSED TEACHER LEADS TO THE UNCOVERING OF DUMBLEDORE'S PLANS.

Underneath the headline were several pictures. One close-up of Dumbledore, underneath a full-body picture of the Minister together with Umbridge and the largest picture to the right was one of Yugi on his knees outside the Headmaster's office, tears streaming down his cheeks and the Millennium Puzzle was missing.

Rebecca had seen Atem grieving Yugi … this was worse. She cursed the moving picture which made Yugi look straight at the reader once every five seconds with that devastated look in his eyes. He was clearly unaware that someone somehow had managed to make a picture of him otherwise he wouldn't have looked like that.  
>Rebecca stared at the pictures for a minute before she moved her gaze down to read the article<p>

_Last night the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was called to Hogwarts to make sure that a possessed teacher would be arrested and taken care of. It was the Hogwarts High Inquisitor, Dolores Jane Umbridge, who had started to suspect that something was 'off' about the new History of Magic teacher and eventually discovered that the teacher, a young man from Japanese origins by the name Yugi Muto, was in fact possessed by a malevolent spirit._

"_A lot of weird things have been going on at Hogwarts surrounding Professor Muto", says Dolores Umbridge, the High Inquisitor herself. "Students and teachers alike have been harmed because of the malevolence of this spirit. I didn't trust him from the beginning and after a lot of work I could inform the Minister that, once again, a possessed teacher was teaching at Hogwarts."_

_Naturally the Minister gathered his best Aurors and went to Hogwarts at once. They lured Muto to the Headmaster's office were they seized him. This led to a confrontation between the Minister and the spirit possessing Muto. From the confrontation it soon became clear that Headmaster Albus Dumbledore knew from the beginning that the teacher was possessed._

"_We have often asked ourselves the question. Is Dumbledore dangerous or a daft? We can now safely assume that he is both. To allow a possessed teacher to teach at Hogwarts clearly states that Dumbledore isn't completely aware of what he is doing", says the Minister. "In addition to that we found out that very same evening that Dumbledore was indeed creating an army of students to overthrow the Ministry. _

_The Headmaster fled the school, leaving no trail and a large force of Aurors are now trying to find him. In the mean time Dolores Umbridge has received the post as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_When asked about the possession of the young man Fudge answered: "Professor Muto could very well be a good teacher. We cannot know. His relationship with the spirit shows that he has been possessed for a very long time and was most likely forced to believe that his relationship with this foul creature was good for him, it's not uncommon for people who are possessed to develop a certain case of Stockholm Syndrome."_

_Muto currently still resides at Hogwarts, having been freed of the dangerous spirit. Considering the shock which follows such a happening he will not be teaching for the following period of time but Umbridge has said that she isn't going to request him to leave._

"_This man, hardly grown up, has been possessed for a long period of time and almost every action was steered by his possessor. We can't blame him for what the other did, he couldn't control it", says Umbridge, proving herself of her kindness qualifying her as Headmaster. "Now that he is freed we should do our best to rehabilitate him with kindness and understanding and sending him away from Hogwarts doesn't seem to be the best of options. Professor Muto has always been isolated from the rest of the staff by this spirit but he did make some connections and it must be best if he can be helped by people which he can trust, like myself."_

_The spirit himself was removed and experts on the subjects of possession have been ordered by the Minister to make sure that the spirit is destroyed. The head of the operation, who prefers to remain anonymous, says that he isn't sure how to do it yet but that they'll hope to have destroyed him before the end of July. In the meanwhile he is harmless. _

_We asked one of the parents what he thought about all this. Lucius Malfoy has a son in the fifth year and says: "Already the first day my son told me that they had a new teacher who he disliked a lot. What he told me worried me but now that I know this I am furious. I lost my faith in Dumbledore a couple of years ago and it was to be expected that something like this would happen. Yugi Muto is __another one in a row of controversial staff-members appointed by Dumbledore and I am glad we now have a more suitable Headmaster at Hogwarts. I get shivers down my spine every time I think of what could have happened to the students with a possessed teacher in the school. I am convinced that it is better for everyone if Yugi Muto just left the school although he legally speaking can't be blamed. No parent will want their children to be taught by a man who has been possessed and I assume that most students don't want him to stay either. Already we are gathering protests so we can have Yugi Muto removed from the school."_

Not a word over the puzzle, not a word over what happened in the Headmaster's office, not a word over Atem's past and purpose, not a word over the DA and Umbridge was pretending as if she cared about what happened to Yugi. Rebecca didn't know what to do. She wanted to walk up to Umbridge who was sitting in Dumbledore's seat and yell the truth at her to make sure she knew what she had done, she wanted to run until the world ended so that everything would just disappear, she wanted to find Yugi and do whatever she could for him, she wanted to go get the puzzle back, but most of all she just wanted to be hugged by her grandfather like he used to do when her parents had just died.

She stayed put, well aware that the students examined her every move. She wasn't sure what her face showed, she had no control over her feelings. She put her red glasses on the table, suddenly feeling annoyed by them. She was still comprehending what she had read. The word that had reached into her mind didn't stand anywhere in the article, but it was how she had read it. _Murder_. What they were discussing on the front page was murder, the murder of the person who had given up everything for the sake of the world.

Without her glasses nothing was sharp. It was as if she was looking at everything around her through muddy water and she still couldn't make up her mind. She wished that it would remain this quiet forever and she wished that everything had gone like planned that day in Egypt. She wouldn't have gotten to know Yugi as well as she had if everything had gone well and things at Hogwarts would have played out a lot different, but Rebecca had a hard time imagining things could have become as bad as they were now. If … That was the key word. But there was no such thing as _if_, this was here and now, now she had to deal with it.

She took her glasses, pushed the paper away and drained her cup. She had to do something and just sitting here wasn't going to help anyone, least of all Atem, who needed most help at the moment. Rebecca felt sick just thinking about how they were going to try and kill him, or exterminate him, he who was already dead.

"Did you know?" the boy from whom she had snatched the newspaper asked. He was a Ravenclaw in the sixth year but Rebecca didn't know his name, she had never bothered learning any names in the school.

"Know what?" Rebecca asked, to make sure she didn't say more than she was forced to. Even the teachers at the staff table were silent. Rebecca knew that they were all listening intensely and she wished that the Ravenclaw table wasn't one of the two in the middle.

"Did you know Professor Muto was possessed?" he asked intently and looked her straight in the eyes.

Rebecca considered lying but she knew that they wouldn't believe her anyway. They had seen her reaction, there hadn't been enough surprise in her expression for her to fake that she hadn't known. "Yes. Yes, I knew." Rebecca didn't think she owed him more answer than that.

He was clearly surprised by that and she knew that she was now just as much an outcast as Tracey. Perhaps she too should start sleeping in the Room of Requirement. Most people sitting next to her shifted away from her.

"But why didn't you tell us?" he asked and placed both hands on the table.

Rebecca was silent a minute, pondering over what to answer. The Daily Prophet had put Atem down as a malicious, foul creature. Clearly spirits possessing people were worse than werewolves. Then again, Rebecca had openly expressed her opinion on werewolves. Why would she refrain from speaking the truth now that the Daily Prophet was telling lies again? "Because the two of them didn't want anyone to know. They were afraid of something like this."

The boy swallowed. "You know _him_?"

"Yugi's been possessed for as long as I've known him, which is over eight years now. I knew him for some time when my grandfather told me that there were two Yugi's, one the kind and gentle Yugi we all know. We all, everyone in this room. And then there was the 'other Yugi' as he was called. He is a one of a kind person, you'll never find anyone who …"

"That's enough!" A high-pitched voice went through the great hall. "Another word on the subject and I will have you expelled miss Hawkins."

Rebecca fell silent and glared at Umbridge.

Umbridge stood up and addressed the school. "You can't listen to this ignorant girl. She doesn't know what she is talking about. This malevolent spirit which the Ministry yesterday removed from the school was one of unmatched evil. If any of you has any questions regarding this subject I suggest you come to talk to me after the classes for today end. I must remind you that the History classes have been canceled until we can find a more suitable teacher. Remember, this spirit possessing Professor Muto was no more than a despicable creature which, I hope, will be destroyed as soon as possible." She gave her little harsh laugh. "After all he's put us through, I am happy to inform you that he is going to suffer pain beyond your imagination."

"Dolores!" Professor McGonagall called out, while attempting to hide her rage. "You can't say stuff like that in front of the students!"

Rebecca actually didn't care. It felt as if the ground had opened underneath her. She was falling, falling, falling into darkness. She was so immensely glad that Yugi hadn't heard those words and she wished from the bottom of her heart that someone had killed Umbridge and she couldn't understand why the beasts hadn't done anything. They had saved her, little insignificant her, but not the Pharaoh who was destined to rid the world of the shadows once and for all.

She wasn't crying yet, but she knew she was going to, sometime soon she guessed. But she had to do one thing first. She took a step forward, towards Umbridge. The distance between the two was so great that the step was insignificant but everyone understood what Rebecca meant. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I believe you are needed elsewhere." Rebecca turned around and saw Luna standing behind her. The odd girl just looked Rebecca in the eyes and waited for a reaction.

Rebecca snatched herself from Luna's grip and glared at her. Then she quickly left the Great Hall and hurried towards Yugi's room but didn't make it further than the girls bathroom before she broke down in uncontrollable sobs. Somewhere in the back of her mind she noted that never in her life she had cried so much as since she started Hogwarts.

* * *

><p>Now the entire school had seen Yugi Muto cry. Not too long ago Ron had stated that Professor Muto didn't cry. Now Ron was holding the evidence in his hands, the redhead stared at the picture in disbelief.<p>

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone so devastated", Hermione said. "Not even when you returned with Cedric Diggory Harry, I'm sorry."

"That picture is nothing", Harry said through clenched teeth after having heard Umbridge's little speech. "You should have seen him before that, in Dumbledore's office. It was as if someone had cut the strings of a puppet. He hardly reacted when Umbridge dragged him out of the office but when the Minister smashed the puzzle … He screamed. I've never heard a scream like that. It was pure despair and he said that the spirit was a better person than anyone present then and there." Harry shook his head. "I saw his gaze, his eyes were empty."

Ron and Hermione continued to look at the picture and Hermione sighed deeply. "So now we know who controls the shadows."

Dean walked over to them, sat down and leaned forward. "Don't tell me … the spirit … the Pharaoh? They are the same, aren't they?"

Harry looked at Dean who didn't seem to be happy at all. On several occasions he glanced towards the doors of the Great Hall with a troubled look in his eyes. He didn't seem to know what to do with his hands and eventually he just sat on them to keep them still.

"The thing that led us to believe that Professor Muto was the Pharaoh was the puzzle", Ron said silently. "Now a mysterious spirit possessing Professor Muto is taken by the Ministry and the puzzle is gone. I think we can safely assume that we found the person controlling the Shadows."

"Not to mention that Professor Muto's reaction when Fudge smashed the puzzle", Harry said and shuddered. Then he chuckled humorless. "Do you remember that he told us he knew the Pharaoh well. I remember thinking that it was just something he wanted to believe or that he was lying to us, but now ... they knew each other far better than anyone could have realized I guess."

Then Hermione started to cry. The three boys stared at her startled and Harry suddenly got very uncomfortable. He hadn't liked it when Cho had started to cry, time and time again, he hated it even more now that Hermione was crying. Harry lost every capability to speak and Ron wasn't much better. Hermione was a silent weeper. Her crying wasn't much more than tears streaming down her face. They were tears of real sorrow, silent and cold. It was Dean who was the one to put an arm across Hermione's shoulder and with soft voice asked her what was wrong.

"Just think of it", she said with a voice that was unexpectedly steady. "Five thousand years ago this spirit, this Pharaoh, sacrificed his life to expel the darkness from this world by sealing himself into that pendant and when his soul was released he couldn't remember anything, according to Professor Muto he's saved this world without anyone knowing and was denied the access to the afterlife. Now, without knowing a single one of these things they are going to destroy him! His life consisted out of unselfish sacrifices and now they are going to use a painful process to exterminate him like vermin! It's not fair."

"Who are you talking about?" Tracey said, who unnoticed to the other four had approached them and had heard Hermione talk. "Who's Pharaoh?" Tracey sounded slightly shaken and glanced towards the door several times, clearly she felt like going after Rebecca but refrained from it. Harry could understand why, he too wouldn't know what to say to Rebecca after this.

Ron exchanged a glance with Hermione and Dean. Harry just looked at his plate, doing his very best not to look at the picture in the Daily Prophet showing the little but greatly agonized figure. Tracey's eyes fell upon it and she took the paper. "He doesn't look as if the actions of the Ministry were for his own good. On the contrary. What are you not telling me?"

Harry looked at Tracey slightly surprised. She didn't tend to be this straight forward, she was too shy for that. Dean sighed and looked at the three friends opposite him. It was Hermione who spoke: "You are the one to know if she's trustworthy."

Dean nodded. "The spirit which the Ministry removed from Hogwarts last night was the soul of a five-thousand year old Pharaoh."

Tracey's eyes widened. "Really?"

Hermione nodded. "I think so."

"Are you sure?" Tracey asked skeptical. "I mean … really? What would make you believe that?"

"Since Professor Muto told me about the Pharaoh", Hermione whispered. "First we thought he was the Pharaoh himself, since all the evidence pointed his way, but he kept claiming he wasn't."

Harry frowned and looked around. "Hermione, be quiet. Not here, let's go."

Hermione who had looked affronted when Harry told her to be quiet relaxed and nodded. She stood up together with Ron and Dean and left the Great Hall. Without thinking too much about it Tracey led them to the Room of Requirement, the place where they were guaranteed to be able to talk in peace.

Harry had to say that he was impressed by the room which Tracey could call hers. She blushed slightly at their stares when they entered her room. "I decided to make something out of it. Sometimes I wonder if the room has feelings. It almost seems happy to help me, amused by every challenge I put it up to. It hasn't failed me yet." Tracey shrugged. "I thought I deserved a luxurious room."

The room was large with a large bed in the middle of it. The ceiling was sprinkled with stars, they were a perfect replica of clear nighttime sky. When Harry looked closely he could find the zodiacs in them. The walls were draped with Slytherin banners and Harry couldn't help but frown slightly at them. Tracey noticed it and chuckled. "You can't get over your dislike for the Slytherins, can you?"

Harry shrugged, not willing to answer the question, well aware she was right. By this point he should know better but to draw them all over one line. Tracey was the living proof of that, he just didn't like their traits. When he told Tracey that she laughed out loud.

"Aren't the three most prominent traits the ones you posses. Clever, resourceful and with a disregard for the rules?" She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "There is nothing wrong with being a Slytherin."

No one answered, instead Hermione quickly summed everything up for Tracey who listened wide-eyed. When Hermione was done all Tracey could do was stare at her.

"It's Professor Muto's fault that we have memories from the second world war?" Tracey asked shocked after a while. "Are you sure?"

"He's got something to do with it", Harry said. "We are however sure that the spirit possessing him is the Pharaoh he told Hermione about."

"Rebecca never said a word", Tracey said and folded her hands. "We used to tease her because she was so secretive but she simply had a whole history she couldn't tell us about!"

"Rebecca's history is nothing", Harry said, somewhat condescending. "Imagine Professor Muto's history. The history of a teacher, do we ever reflect over it? I've never even given it a thought that Professor Dumbledore must have a whole history from the period before he came to Hogwarts."

"And Yugi's story isn't all that impressing if you compare it to that of the Pharaoh", Hermione said, who now too understood why Yugi had told her about him to begin with.

"Don't their stories belong together?" Ron wondered doubtfully. "I mean, you can't tell about one without telling about the other, can you?"

Tracey stood up and walked towards a door which led to a pretty large bathroom. Harry heard her turn on a faucet a couple of seconds, then she returned to them. Standing in the doorway she said: "Does it even matter? So after several months you figured out who this mysterious Pharaoh was because Umbridge found out that Professor Muto was possessed. It doesn't matter! No matter how brave any of them was doing what they did for this world, this instant this Pharaoh of yours is in the Ministry of Magic waiting to be destroyed. Once that is done the story of this Pharaoh will take a harsh end that can't be called very happy. We can't ponder over the past, we should worry about the future."

The other four sat speechless.

"Did I ever tell you that it was Professor Muto who told me to go to the Hog's Head?" she asked silently. "It was also he who told me not to fear Voldemort's name. He's been fighting against Voldemort and the Ministries idiocy when no one else was! Let's worry about this war instead, he's been preparing us for it. What else would the classes about the Second World War have been good for?" Tracey didn't bother waiting for an answer. "We have spent enough time worrying about past wars, we have to deal with the one that is here at present. The same thing with the Pharaoh, why grieve his previous misfortunes, let's worry about his approaching extermination instead!"

Tracey looked at them from the doorway, then slid to the ground. "Does any of you remember the Care of Magical Creatures class which made Umbridge have a mental breakdown?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, of course we do. Professor Muto used the Shadows to play a game with Umbridge."

"But Professor Muto couldn't use the Shadows, he told us and I believe him", Dean protested.

Tracey started to laugh, it was a loud and humorless laugh which carried through the room with broken wings. "I owe the Pharaoh my life."

"The crimson eyes", Harry sighed. "I see. We've already met the Pharaoh."

"Yes, and since I owe him my life I am not going to do nothing while some ignorant bunch of idiots are trying to destroy him", Tracey said with a determination which seemed oddly misplaced. Entire Tracey had been slightly different from usual ever since she found out about the Pharaoh. Suddenly Harry could see that she had the determination and cleverness which Salazar Slytherin had valued. He had always thought she didn't have it and had always thought of her as a Gryffindor rather than a Slytherin, she surely had the courage for it.

"And what are you going to do?" Hermione asked, not being able to hide a bit of scorn. "They have him probably somewhere locked away in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. What will you be able to do?"

Tracey just looked at Hermione in complete silence for a minute. Her gaze was suddenly just as intense as that of her mother. "I have absolutely no idea."

* * *

><p>Yugi had no idea how he had ended up in his room, at the moment he didn't care. After a while on the floor outside Dumbledore's office things had just gone black. Next thing he knew the sun was shining into his eyes from outside the window. It must have been late morning when he opened his eyes.<p>

Everything was empty, completely empty. He had spend the last eight years with someone sharing his body and he hadn't ever thought he'd be alone again. He hadn't wished it either. Now that emptiness was tearing at his chest.

All Yugi did was stare at the purple cloth draped over the four-poster bed, purple, the color of his eyes and in a way Atem's color. In history purple had always been associated with kings since it was such a hard color to produce and only kings could afford it. That color purple tended to be slightly darker than the one Yugi always associated with Atem, although he wasn't sure why he did that.

Reality hadn't struck Yugi yet. For some reason he expected to be able to stretch out his hand and feel the familiar form of the Millennium puzzle under his fingers, to lift it and put it around his neck like he always did. To hear the Pharaoh greet him with his usual 'Good morning' and to hear Dobby show up in the room on a random spot and tell him all about what happened in the kitchens. He would walk to the Great Hall, frequently being greeted by students, have breakfast and make his way towards the first class of the day.

It was however when he sat up and the puzzle wasn't laying on it's regular spot that last nights events came crashing down on him. The puzzle was once again unsolved. They had come and taken Atem away since he apparently was dangerous. They had been right, Atem was dangerous if he wanted to be, but he hadn't been able to stop them. Why?

'Why?' was the one question Yugi couldn't get out of his head. Why had they come? Why did they care? Why hadn't Atem done anything? Why had the beasts done nothing? Why did Fudge smash the puzzle? Why had he and Atem even come here? Why hadn't they left as soon as they noticed all the trouble this place was causing them?

Yugi didn't really know why it were his hands which felt empty and not his mind, but that was the way it was. He did however not care as the answer to the last question walked into his room. Rebecca.

Rebecca didn't knock or say anything. She looked desperate and rather than entering Yugi's room she stormed into his room. She didn't stop for anything and crashed into Yugi, who was still sitting in his bed, and hugged him tight. Yugi just hugged back, grateful that his hands didn't feel as empty anymore.

"I'm so sorry", Rebecca whispered. "I'm so sorry." She had started to cry and backed away a little so she could look him in the eyes. "You just awoke didn't you?"

Yugi nodded, knowing that his voice wouldn't carry. He looked at the empty bedside-table and closed his eyes. There were three places in this world where the puzzle belonged, around Yugi's neck, around Atem's neck and on the bedside-table, that the puzzle was with none of them made Yugi feel slightly sick.

"They all know", Rebecca said.

Yugi just looked at her, not understanding. He hoped he wouldn't have to ask for a further explanation, still not willing to speak. In that moment Dobby entered the room, wildly waving around a copy of the Daily Mail. Yelling things so loud and quickly that neither Rebecca nor Yugi picked up a single word.

"Dobby!" Rebecca yelled when it became clear that the elf wasn't going to be quiet any time soon. "Please, calm down!"

Dobby went silent immediately and looked at Rebecca. Then he said, sounding almost shy: "Pharaoh, sir, is gone."

That was reality. That was the cold and harsh reality and Yugi didn't like it. He hated it. He pulled up his knees, put his arms around them and at last tears started to make traces down his cheeks. "Atem", he sobbed. "Atem."

Rebecca was uncharacteristic tactful and turned away from Yugi. "Dobby, can I have the newspaper", she asked gently.

Yugi waited until his tears stopped flowing until he paid any attention to either of his two visitors. However, when he wiped his eyes Rebecca addressed him. "You can't stay."

"What?" Yugi asked and stared at her unseeing. He couldn't really comprehend the meaning of those words and was in need of more information.

Rebecca handed him the paper and Yugi stared at himself in disbelief. He had no memory of a picture being taken. Not that he remembered much from after Fudge smashed the puzzle.

"Everyone knows about Atem, Yugi, but not like we do. They published an article telling everyone you were possessed and that you suffered from Stockholm Syndrome and that Atem was a malevolent creature. The parents want you out of the school and Dumbledore has fled, they are gathering enough signatures so they can have you banned from the school."

Yugi looked up at Rebecca, one thing was very clear. "I can't leave!"

"Why not?" Rebecca asked, dead serious. "What can you do here now? No student will attend your classes anymore. Umbridge has proclaimed you're too shocked to teach." Yugi didn't say anything, but Umbridge was most likely right. "She says that you should stay and be taken care of by people you can trust, like herself", Rebecca said, pronouncing the last two words with dripping sarcasm. "You can't do much here anymore. And from here we can't do anything for Atem. You should have heard Umbridge …" Rebecca shuddered.

"What did she say?" Yugi asked, his expression was blank, free from emotion.

"She started with threatening me in front of the entire school, saying that if I said a word about Atem I'd be expelled. The students were asking me about it, which is understandable, but Umbridge made clear to everyone that they shouldn't ask and that I shouldn't say a thing. She's trying to find a more 'suitable' teacher for History of Magic and told the entire school that Atem was a despicable creature and …" Rebecca's voice faltered.

Yugi knew he wasn't going to like what Rebecca was going to say, yet he pressed on. "What, Rebecca, what?"

"She made McGonagall angry, telling us that she was happy to inform us that … that he is going to suffer pain beyond our imagination." New tears sprung to her eyes.

Yugi's tears stopped. He was too shocked to cry. The room around him was spinning and he vaguely noticed he was shaking. "Wh … When?" he stammered.

"They aren't sure how, but they hope before the end of July."

Yugi screamed, a short furious scream which made Rebecca stiffen as Yugi covered his face with his hands. Yugi wasn't violent, but he understood now why some grieving people could tear a house down. "They can't!"

"Yugi", Rebecca whispered. "What happened? They gave some sort of summary of what happened but ..."

"Later", Yugi said. "I don't want to talk right now."

Rebecca went quiet and Yugi laid down again. "I'm going to write Raphael a letter", Rebecca sighed. "That's okay, right?"

Yugi just nodded. Then he shot up. "No, wait!" His voice then turned to nothing more than a whisper. "I can't do this right now, Rebecca. Please, just wait a while. Tomorrow I'll tell you everything, I promise. Then you can write. You should go to class, you shouldn't be expelled."

Then a cold smile appeared on Rebecca's face, colored with a sort of pride. "Don't worry, I don't care about getting expelled anymore." After a little pause she added. "And I'm not the only one."

* * *

><p>This was read through by me in something of a hurry, so there will be plenty of mistakes … but okay.<p>

The Daily Prophet article was a challenge to write. Glad that is over.

Please review, or you too have to sing 'Sail Away' with me (and I promise you I sing about as good as Anzu does in that video)


	29. Destroying a Spirit

To refer to someone with their surname is still something I find weird. I don't reflect over the fact that Kaiba, Jonouchi and Honda all are surnames, I think I have them listed under first names somewhere in my head. I even call my teachers and the principal by their first name, that's simply the way it is here. We even have a teacher with a nickname openly used.  
>Ah well, we have a teacher just like Yugi, just like Yugi when it comes to the relation to the school, students and teachers (not possessed). She's forced to quit … I call that reality.<p>

* * *

><p>Things really had changed overnight Rebecca noticed as she joined the students again sometime before lunch. Parents had throughout the day been coming to take their kids home, Rebecca had spent some time in the Entrance Hall watching it all happen. She made sure that none of the students saw her as she watched parents talk with hushed but upset voices to McGonagall. Amongst those being taken away where a first year Hufflepuff named Rose Zeller, Romilda Vane, a first year Gryffindor called Euan Abercrombie, a Hufflepuff named Heather, two Ravenclaw second years called Orla Quirke and Stewart Ackerly and three Slytherins. And those were only the ones Rebecca noticed, no doubt that there were more being forced away from Hogwarts by their parents.<p>

It didn't take long before she found out about the Inquisitorial Squad either, who were docking points from everyone. Rebecca moved through the school like a ghost, doing her best not to be seen and mostly succeeding as long as she made sure to hide between classes.

It was during lunch that Rebecca saw Fred and George walk down the marble staircase towards Ernie, Ron, Hermione and Harry who just had been docked a large amount of points by Malfoy. Rebecca had never cared about her house points but she understood that it was a great insult to the four left standing in the Entrance Hall. Although she couldn't say that Draco Malfoy had done it wholeheartedly.

"Noticed, have you?" Fred asked as he and his twin joined the four.

"Malfoy just docked us all about fifty points", Harry said, clearly furious. Rebecca rolled her eyes, that they didn't have larger worries than the points?

"Yeah", George said subdued. "Montague tried to do us during break."

"What do you mean 'tried'?" Ron asked wary.

"He never managed to get all the words out due to the fact that we forced him head-first into the Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor", Fred said and the way he said it made Rebecca smile. She was pleased that she could count herself, if not on their side, at least not opposite them.

Hermione at the other hand wasn't pleased. "But you'll get into terrible trouble!"

"Not until Montague reappears, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him", Fred said coolly. The twins could be surprisingly coldhearted if they wanted and Rebecca shook her head. "Anyway … we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble anymore."

"Have you ever?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Course we have", George said. "Never been expelled, have we?"

"We've always known where to draw the line", Fred added.

"We might have put a toe across it occasionally", George continued.

"But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem", Fred finished with a smile.

"But now?" Ron asked tentatively.

"Well now …", George said.

" … what with Dumbledore gone …"

" … we reckon a bit of mayhem … "

" … is exactly what our dear new Head deserves", Fred finished

"You mustn't!" Hermione whispered. "You really mustn't! She'd love a reason to expel you!"

"You don't get it, Hermione, do you?" Fred asked and shook his head disappointed. "We don't care about staying anymore. We'd walk out right now if we weren't determined to do our bit for Dumbledore first."

"I don't care for Dumbledore", Rebecca said and stepped forward from her hiding place underneath the staircase. "But Umbridge deserves all the bad that can happen to her and I've never liked this place. I want to help."

Fred and George just stared at her.

"Rebecca! You can't do that!" Hermione said and took a couple of steps backwards when she saw the fire in the blonde's eyes.

"Umbridge was happy to inform everyone that one of my best friends is going to suffer pain beyond our imagination while being exterminated", Rebecca spat and took some steps towards Hermione. "I have better things to do than learn some lousy spells. The DA is no more anyway, the only thing I have left to do here is make Umbridge pay for what she did. I'm not going to allow the Ministry to do such a thing and watch Yugi waste away because his _Aibou_ met such a horrible fate!"

Fred raised an eyebrow. "You don't need our help."

"We're not saying we wouldn't have let you help, we really would have", George continued.

"It's just that phase one is already about to begin", Fred finished.

Then George smiled. "But give Umbridge all hell you can and greet her from us."

Rebecca was disappointed but she didn't show it.

"I suggest you go find Tracey", Ron said. "I think you and her have your mind set on the same thing right now."

"Rebecca, I'm sorry", Hermione whispered.

Rebecca understood and her eyes narrowed. "Don't be. He is not gone yet." With those words she turned around and left the Entrance Hall before too many students saw her.

* * *

><p>Snape wasn't too surprised that Tracey was late. He had seen her talking and leaving the Great Hall with Potter and his gang. She didn't seem to be too happy when she finally entered Snape's office for the days lectures.<p>

"You're late", Snape stated and looked up. He didn't show it but he was startled when he saw the look in the young Slytherin's eyes. They blazed with fury and determination that seemed misplaced in her dark face. She had clearly already made up her mind and whatever it was she had made her mind up about, nothing and no one was going to talk her out of it now.

"I'm not going to apologize, Professor, since I'm not sorry", she said, her eyes cast to the ground but still with something defying over her posture. "Can I ask you a question, sir?"

Snape was surprised but amused and decided to see how things were going to turn out. Perhaps he could learn some more about the History teacher, after all, Tracey got along well with Rebecca. "I can't see why not."

"Sir, what do you know about last night?" she asked with a frown.

Snape was surprised by that question, he had expected something different. "Nothing more than what was in the Daily Prophet."

Tracey looked visibly disappointed. "You didn't know, sir?"

Snape shook his head slowly. "Dumbledore told me that there was more to him then meets the eye. I had however not expected something like this. I assume you were part of the 'army of students'?"

Tracey nodded, knowing that there was no point in denying it. She wondered why Umbridge hadn't put them all in some sort of horrible detention yet. She assumed they would be hearing more about it after dinner or something like that. Tracey waited for Snape to say something about it, but he didn't say a word, so she asked: "Professor, what do you think about what happened last night?"

Snape looked at Tracey but refrained from answering. The fact was that he wasn't quite sure, like most people he had a deeply rooted fear for possessions and that kind of spirits and his first reaction when he had seen the paper was relief. The thing that made Snape wonder was Professor Muto's reaction, people freed from possessing spirits tended to feel a certain relief and hope, they definitely weren't devastated. "I belief you have a more informed point of view on it", he said eventually and stood up.

"What do you mean, sir?" Tracey asked curiously.

"You hold more information about this than I do", Snape said. "It's after all the fifth years who have suffered most damage by Professor Muto." Snape was quiet a while and then spoke: "I believe that Professor Muto won't be in the school much longer."

Tracey sighed deeply but didn't push the subject further although Snape could tell she wanted to ask a lot more. He was disappointed, he had hoped to learn more but Tracey chose the right moment to stop. "Do you disagree on the actions of the Ministry?" Snape wondered.

Tracey's gaze was just as intense as that of her mother Snape noticed but unfortunately for Tracey her eyes also showed exactly how she felt. Fury was the only word Snape could find to describe the expression. He had already gotten his answer.

"Yes, I think what they did was despicable!" Tracey answered honestly, somewhat to Snape's surprise.

"I can't imagine why", Snape said, sounding as bored as usual, although intrigued by the subject. "A malevolent spirit was removed from the school, they only did as they were supposed to. It would hardly be the first spirit they captured and destroyed." Snape had set a trap.

Tracey didn't fall for it. She didn't defend the spirit as Snape had expected, instead she thought through her words before speaking. Snape didn't know if he should be amused or not, most students would have fallen for that and although Snape really wanted to know more he was pleased that the werewolf at least could think twice before opening her mouth.

"But no one should need to suffer for it. Couldn't they have been gentler on Professor Muto?"

"Removing a spirit is a troublesome task. It is a surprise that they were able to remove him here, usually the progress can take up to a week. They were gentle on him", Snape said. "Although none the less shocking, I suppose."

Tracey shook her head. "Why does everything that happens, whatever it is, hurt. I understand that they want to destroy the spirit, but why does he need to suffer?"

Snape frowned. Tracey was trying to get information from him in the same way he was trying to get information from her. She too probably knew what they were doing. It was a cat and mouse game, the first one to make a mistake was the one who had to give the information. The only difference was that Snape's information was his to give and he doubted that Tracey felt free to share whatever she knew. They could continue to play this game but Snape didn't feel like it.

"They once asked me for help when they first succeeded in removing a spirit from a person. They had tried to destroy the spirit in many different ways, most of these ways can't be spoken of since they were practiced in the Department of Mysteries. I made an Unbreakable Vow not to ever speak of what happened down in the Department of Mysteries. However when they noticed that those ways didn't work they moved into an empty room in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, turned it into a laboratory and asked my help", Snape told Tracey who looked slightly confused.

Tracey did however not say a thing and just sat quiet and listened. Snape appreciated it.

"It took all of us a lot of research and patience before we were able to destroy the spirit. The spirit in question was truly malevolent, more than you can imagine and he killed about a dozen of us before we found a way to restrain him. Possessing spirits need something to possess, that's very important to know. It was however hard to make hims stick to one and the same thing and he just jumped from one person on the team to the other, killing them all after driving them insane. When we found a way to restrain him we could focus on destroying him instead."

Tracey looked disappointed, but still remained silent. She knew that she needed to know that one piece of information Snape kept from her. When Snape had figured out what she wanted to know he also knew what she had made her mind up about. She was planning to free the spirit, he just didn't know why.

"That was a hard task, we couldn't kill him since he was already dead and destroying the object he was possessing would just make him shift to something or someone different. He always preferred someone, usually that person would not survive. The spirit suffered a lot throughout the experiments and when we finally managed to destroy him he went screaming."

Tracey's eyes narrowed. She was still waiting for his point.

"I was the one who finally found out how to get rid of him", Snape said and couldn't help but sound slightly proud. "The subject of possessing spirits is one which people preferably avoid, but I've always found it intriguing. I am one of the few persons in the Wizarding world who have bothered to learn about them. I know how they restrain the spirits and I know how they destroy them. If they manage to destroy him before July I'll be impressed. If you are going to free him you are going to need my help, but before I'll give you any of that I want to know who I'm saving and why you want to do that."

Tracey gawked at him. She was too surprised to react any more than that. This Snape collided with everything she knew about him, she hadn't really expected him to care. Least of all had she expected him to see right through her. "How did you know?" she whispered eventually.

Snape chuckled. "With Umbridge as Headmistress you won't be able to remain in the school much longer. She despises werewolves, you know that. You don't really have anything to loose when it comes to this school, the worst thing anyone can do is kicking you out and you don't care about that because you will be anyway. Everyone can see that you are far more determined than usual and why else would you ask about last night and listen so carefully to whatever I can tell you about the extermination of spirits. Unless you intend to destroy a spirit yourself, which I doubt."

Tracey looked at the floor and shuffled a bit with her feet. "Who are you?"

Snape was taken aback by that question. "What do you mean?"

"We see you as a former Death Eater, although there are those who think that former is incorrect, who teaches at Hogwarts, who is unfair towards the students and always cranky. You are not liked amongst us. Or us … You're a great teacher, sir, but I'm the only one who has experienced that. Why?" Tracey asked confused and dejected. "And now you do something like this? Who are you really?"

Snape looked her in the eyes and Tracey could literally see him grow as he straightened his back and suddenly she felt as if she was shrinking. "I asked you who I am saving."

Tracey would feel sorry for whoever didn't get that hint. He did not want to talk about it.

Snape sighed and became his usual length again, just by returning to his normal posture. "Professor Muto and I have something in common. Depending on what you are going to tell me I'm willing to break my promise and tell you what happens when they destroy a spirit and how you can save him. Who is he?"

"But that's not up to me to tell!" Tracey called out. "I don't have that right!"

"In addition to that", Snape continued as if Tracey hadn't said a thing. "No one can know that I was involved if you against all odds would manage to do anything for him. One doesn't simply walk into the Ministry and walk out with a spirit on death row."

Tracey walked towards the desk and sat down uninvited, but she didn't care. "Fine. But no one can know. If he's destroyed he won't care anyway."

"Professor Yugi Muto and the spirit possessing him … what kind of relation did they have?" Snape asked. This question was crucial, he wasn't going to help save a malevolent torturer, like most spirits were.

Tracey pointed at the newspaper. "That is not Stockholm Syndrome … See for yourself."

Snape nodded. "Okay then. I tell you what you need to know to save him and from there you'll have to do it on your own and you don't tell anyone I gave you any of this information and I don't say a word about the things you are going to tell me."

Tracey smiled and held out a hand. "Deal", she said.

Snape raised an eyebrow, then shrugged slightly. This was slightly odd, he'd never done anything like this before, especially not with a student, but it didn't feel that bad. "Deal", he said and took Tracey's hand.

* * *

><p>BOOM!<p>

Rebecca had found the world's best spot to enjoy the fireworks. They were beautiful, not only because of how they looked, but also because of what they were doing to Umbridge. She was sitting in the very hallway where Fred and George had set of the fireworks, just a floor underneath Umbridge's office.

Rebecca sat in a windowsill, pressed against the window to make sure that none of the pyrotechnic wonders would hit her. It were rockets, dragons, firecrackers and Catherine wheels, in screaming colors with sparks that wrote inappropriate words in the air by own device. Rebecca smirked as she saw that they were only getting stronger, rather than fading away. She had to applaud Fred and George for their efforts, they were quite the geniuses in their area of expertise.

Rebecca saw Umbridge come running into the hallway, but she stopped halfway down the staircase and stared in utter horror. She was followed by Filch, who shared the same astounded expression. Rebecca pointed her wand at a Catherine wheel discreetly and whispered a spell with menace in her voice. The Catherine wheel, one of the largest, changed direction and headed for Umbridge. Umbridge and Filch stood transfixed before they, to Rebecca's disappointment, ducked just in time. The Catherine wheel left the building through the window and took advantage of the larger space it had in the grounds to grow even larger.

"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" Umbridge shrieked. "They'll be all over the school unless we do something – _stupefy_!"

Rebecca laughed out loud, but wasn't heard due to the noise of the fireworks, as Umbridge's spell hit one of the rockets. The effect was awesome, at least Rebecca thought so. The rocket exploded, burning a hole in one of the paintings, the witch in it ran just in time to the painting next to hers.

The explosion gave Rebecca an idea. She pointed at one of the dragons, the one closest to Umbridge, which reminded Rebecca of Solar Flare Dragon, and whispered: "_Evanesco_!" Suddenly ten additional dragons appeared and Umbridge took a run for it.

When only a firey butterfly was left in the hallway she jumped down from the windowsill. She didn't laugh anymore, she had had her little moment of malevolence, but she was far from satisfied. Not even when a soot-blackened Umbridge passed Rebecca who was sneaking her way to her dorm could Rebecca find enough glee to satisfy her need for vengeance. She had to think of something better.

Rebecca, who hadn't spoken to anyone else but Fred and George that day, had in all the uproar caused by the fireworks forgotten that it wasn't Umbridge she was hiding from but the students. So when the statue asked her: "What work can you never finish?" Rebecca answered somewhat sarcastic: "An autobiography."

The eagle knocker opened the door for her and everyone in the common room went absolutely silent and stared at her. Rebecca considered turning around and just walking out again, but she didn't even get that chance. Peter, who had been sitting near the fire, jumped up and ran towards her, giving her a tight hug. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been?"

"Increasing fireworks", Rebecca said dryly and pushed Peter away. "Now I'm going to bed." Her tone allowed no protests and besides, no one of the Ravenclaws with all their questions dared asking her. Umbridge had made her point very clear.

"Rebecca", Luna said as she walked down the stairs from the girls dormitory. "You can't pretend it never happened."

"Of course I can't", Rebecca hissed venomously. "I wish I could. But I can't. There is enough here that reminds me time after time again of what happened. I've never liked this place, I don't like this world. I was right, wasn't I? The only thing it has brought me, or Yugi for that matter, is suffering!"

Peter looked hurt, but Rebecca actually didn't care. Without looking at any of them she walked up to the dormitory, passing Luna who didn't look all too happy. It took a while before Rebecca noticed that it weren't only her own footsteps which she heard walking up the stairs. She turned around to see that Luna was following her.

"Not everything is as it appears", Luna said while she looked Rebecca in the eyes. "Some things can't be understood!"

Rebecca stood there a minute or so, then she turned away again and entered the dormitory. Luna stayed put, crestfallen. She, more even than most others, wanted to know the truth behind the spirit which had so harshly been removed from Hogwarts.

The morning after Rebecca was snatched away by Tracey. Rebecca had been on her way to the Great Hall to get herself some breakfast before most of the students woke up, but she didn't even make it that far. Tracey grabbed Rebecca by the arm and without saying a word she dragged her to the Room of Requirement. She didn't let go until Rebecca sat on the bed.

"Sit down and listen", Tracey said.

Rebecca who already sat down just looked at Tracey. The girl looked furious, to say the least, Rebecca was glad that fury at least wasn't turned towards her.

"Please, please tell me that the Pharaoh possessing Professor Muto was different from all the others", Tracey pleaded and Rebecca noted that she was shaking. "Please."

"What?" was Rebecca's ingenious reply to that unexpected plea.

"Is he like a normal spirit? Or is he indeed attached to the Millennium Puzzle? Or is it something different?" Tracey asked and paced through the room. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. "Please, at least tell me Professor Muto is still here!" Tracey put both hands on her head at the thought and fell to her knees. "You've seen him, right?"

Rebecca had no idea what had just happened, but she didn't particularly like it. "Tracey, calm down. Yes, Yugi is in the castle. I was going there after breakfast. I saw him just yesterday."

Tracey seemed to calm slightly at this. "Good. Good."

"But Tracey, why? What's going on?" Rebecca asked and stood up, grabbing the Slytherin to make her stand still.

"How much do you know about possessions?" Tracey wondered and didn't bother waiting for a reply. "A spirit who possesses a person or an object does preferably not leave since they see the thing they possess as their property. That's why a possessing spirit will only leave his host when under torture, very real, very horrible torture. Because the spirit feels everything his host feels he eventually has to leave or risk going insane."

The blood drained from Rebecca's face. "How do you know this?"

Tracey shook her head. "I know. That will have to do."

"At least tell me how you know about the Pharaoh", Rebecca demanded with a hostile tone. She didn't like that Tracey knew this much, she didn't like it at all.

"Bill Weasley worked in Egypt as Curse-Breaker and when a family of tomb-keepers died they broke their way into their living space and entered a hidden tomb of a nameless Pharaoh. There was enough information there and then there are the things Professor Muto told us himself and the fact that he's the King of Games made that we could gather information from everywhere and combine it until we found the solution, the spirit was the final clue." Tracey said. Then she turned around and pointed at the red bag around Rebecca's waist. "You were a duelist too. I suppose those are your cards?"

Rebecca chuckled darkly and nodded. "Actually, I still count myself as a duelist. This school just won't allow it. Now tell me more"

"He's damn lucky they were able to take the Pharaoh without having to take him along. Otherwise …" Tracey shuddered. "The way to destroy a spirit requires that a spirit doesn't have anything to posses. There are spells to protect from possession, but they only work on inanimate objects. So in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures there is a room, actually a torture chamber with walls made out of pure concrete, the spells against possession in this room are the strongest which exist. In addition to that, the walls are jinxed so that nothing, not even a spirit, can pass through them."

"Is that what they meant that he at the moment is harmless?" Rebecca asked and wondered how much the shadows could affect that. Not that Atem would be able to use them when locked away in the puzzle.

Tracey nodded. "Yes. But the Pharaoh wasn't tied to Professor Muto, right? He sealed his soul in the puzzle. That's how they were able to take him without having to put Professor Muto through such medieval methods. The Pharaoh is different from most spirits, that's why it'll take them so long to destroy him … unless …"

"Unless what?" Rebecca wondered carefully.

"Normally, possessing spirits are wandering souls, stripped from their bodies before they died, that's why they are so rare. Most of them are regular people who over the course of their nonexistence go insane and become cruel and highly dangerous creatures, that's also when they start possessing people. They aren't bound to anything, that's why you can't kill them, they'll just move on to the next person or, if they really have to, to an object", Tracey explained. "Are you getting all of this?"

Rebecca understood, more than she wanted really. It bugged her however that Tracey hadn't told her how they destroyed spirits yet. The unknown progress left her with an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach and she just wanted to get it over with. "Yes, I understand. But the Pharaoh was bound to the puzzle with ancient magic, the only reason he could possess Yugi was because the Millennium puzzle gave him that opportunity. Others have worn the Millennium puzzle without the Pharaoh having access to their souls."

"Exactly, the Pharaoh's soul is in the Millennium puzzle. If they want a spirit to leave an object, they have to destroy it. But since the Pharaoh is bound to the puzzle, is it possible that his soul will be destroyed with it?" Tracey asked to Rebecca's surprise.

Rebecca made a frustrated gesture and blew a stray hair out of her eyes. "How am I supposed to know that? You are the one who turned an expert overnight!"

"I don't know! They've never had anything like this before!" Tracey made the same frustrated gesture and sat down on the floor. "I'm not sure if it is possible to destroy a spirit, a soul, like that. But from what you are telling me I can assume the Pharaoh isn't able to possess whatever or whomever he wants."

"He isn't even able to leave the puzzle", Rebecca sighed. "Even if they don't destroy him if they destroy the puzzle, they'll most certainly harm him. I don't think they can, however." Rebecca said. "There are those protecting the Pharaoh, I'd be surprised if they just let him be destroyed. What troubles me is that the Ministry was able to steal the Pharaoh away without them doing anything about it."

"Protected by what?" Tracey asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The same thing that protected me when you transformed in the Hospital wing", Rebecca said, somewhat insensitive. "Only mightier."

Tracey pressed her lips together and looked away. She was still ashamed over what had happened that night, regardless of the fact that Rebecca had told her a hundred times that she shouldn't. "Would I have harmed you otherwise?" she asked.

Rebecca nodded. "Most definitely."

Tracey laughed, humorless. "I suppose it's just my luck I attacked the girl protected by mysterious powers."

Rebecca ignored the comment. "We need to get the puzzle back. There is no telling what happens if it is destroyed, if it can be destroyed. It holds immense powers, darker than you can imagine", she stated and looked at the ground.

"The power of stolen souls", Tracey whispered and Rebecca nodded. "Yes, indeed. What surprises me is that those souls didn't interfere. All by all, most of them are quiet fond of Yugi and the Pharaoh."

"Are all those monsters really souls? Dean told me about them, but it all seems so weird and unbelievable", Tracey stated.

"Says the girl going to The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry", Rebecca replied somewhat dryly. "Yes, they are all part of souls, but only part. They show the true nature of a person but have no power without the Ba. Some of them were stolen and these stolen souls consist out of the Ka only and need the shadows to do anything. Than the Ka of people who die move to the Dominion of the Beasts and get power there."

"That's freaky. So I turn into a beast when I die?" Tracey wondered, trying to understand.

Rebecca shook her head. "That's not how it works. When a Ka gets sealed in the shadows they rip a persons soul in two. When you die your soul goes two different ways. Your Ba goes to the spirit realm and your Ka to the Dominion, but they are still connected. It doesn't affect you that your Ka is in a different dimension when you die."

"I wonder what my Ka is", Tracey wondered absentmindedly, but then gathered herself. "Regardless of all that. We need to save the Pharaoh!"

"Hold it right there", Rebecca interrupted the Slytherin. "Why are you so determined to save the Pharaoh?"

"I owe the Pharaoh my life, Rebecca", Tracey said and gazed at her intensely. "I have to do whatever I can to save him. It is the only right thing to do!"

Rebecca wasn't going to argue with Tracey about what was right and wrong. They didn't have time. Besides that, Rebecca was rather grateful for Tracey's knowledge, wherever she had retrieved it from.

"Let's just say the Pharaoh is a regular spirit", Rebecca stated, really wanting to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling. "How do they destroy them?"

"Basilisks", Tracey answered. "To begin with."

"Like the one which was loose in the school three years ago?" Rebecca wondered skeptically.

"A basilisk kills whoever looks them in the eyes. That's the general rule for basilisks. Look them in the eyes and die. But when you see the eyes without looking directly into them you get petrified. However when the basilisk was loose in the school Nearly Headless Nick looked him directly into the eyes, but since he was already dead he just got turned to stone.! It is the only was for a ghost to get a solid form of their own. This same things works on spirits when they are unable to possess anything and basilisk have a natural defense against possession. Are you with me?"

Rebecca merely nodded.

"Possessing spirits can only be seen when possessing someone and by the person he is currently possessing. Otherwise he is invisible. There are however a selected few creatures who can see spirits, those are cats, house-elfs and basilisks. There is a window in these concrete walls, there are always two elves behind the glass who keep a watching eye over the spirit locked up in the room. When the basilisk has turned a spirit without vessel to stone, a process which can take a while, he can't possess anymore. It's the only known method in the Wizarding world to bind a spirit."

"Then?" Rebecca asked.

"Then they smash him", Tracey said. "Literally use a spell to smash the petrified spirit into small bits. The shadows rip a persons soul once, that process rips the soul a million of times. They are destroyed. And it hurts, to the spirit it really hurts, what's worse, he keeps hurting for all eternity", Tracey added darkly.

"Why?" Rebecca asked, disappointed to notice that the feeling in her stomach had become worse rather than better.

"You can destroy a soul but you can't turn it into nonexistence, it's not possible. These pieces of the spirit will still be able to feel the pain of being torn, each and every one of them, but not a single one of them has the power to do anything at all. These millions and millions of pieces are swept together and than scattered over the ocean. They become nothing more but tortured particles of dust."

"How will they destroy the puzzle?" Rebecca asked when she received a sudden brainwave.

"Smash it, I think, and if that doesn't suffice melt it", Tracey said. "I'm not sure."

"How much can the house-elfs see?" she asked, laying the puzzle in her head.

"They can see the spirit at all times and recognize him for who he is even when possessing a person or object", Tracey answered confused. "Rebecca, why does it matter?"

"The Pharaoh's spirit is only free when the puzzle is solved, and that is free with a lot of restrictions since he remains bound to the puzzle. If they smash the puzzle he'll just disappear into it, his pure soul will be bound in the darkest corners of his soul room, unable to act or feel. Naturally there is no saying what will happen if they melt the puzzle, but if I had to guess; he'll just be stuck in eternal darkness. You see, smashing or melting the puzzle isn't really destroying it, it is reforming it, unfortunately to the point where it can never be brought back together again, but that's something different."

"That's still a cruel faith", Tracey whispered.

Rebecca nodded. "Yeah, he's been there for five-thousand years already, I think that is more than his fair share of imprisonment in darkness. We have to get the puzzle back before they melt it, otherwise it will be darn hard to solve it again." She stood up and held out a hand to help Tracey from the ground. Tracey took it and Rebecca pulled the Slytherin up. "But right now we are going to talk to Yugi. He's going to tell us what happened, then I'm going to write Raphael a letter. Then we'll see."

"Rebecca, wait, one more thing", Tracey said hastily.

"What?"

"Not everyone in the Ministry is trustworthy", Tracey said with a sound to her voice that urged Rebecca to understand.

But Rebecca didn't get it. "I know that the Ministry isn't trustworthy", she stated confused.

"That's not what I mean Rebecca, there are people on the team responsible for destroying spirits who don't find destroying spirits the most important of things. In fact, they value something else a lot more", Tracey said and looked at Rebecca intensely.

"Do you think we can buy the puzzle back?" Rebecca asked incredulous.

"If that's not possible, we should at least be able to delay the extermination. But … even the weak link amongst them won't accept a bribe from two Hogwarts students, besides that we can't afford that. We will need someone with great experience of these things", Tracey said. "We need someone who can and is willing to strive this thing on, perhaps to the point were we can get the puzzle back undamaged."

"Let's hurry!" Rebecca said and grabbed Tracey's arm. Dragging the Slytherin behind her Rebecca ran out the Room of Requirement and together they fought their way through the stream of students heading for their first lesson. Rebecca completely ignored their stares as she pushed them aside, still holding on to Tracey who did her best to keep up.

"Do you know someone like that?" Tracey asked while running when they reached a calmer part of the castle.

Rebecca nodded without stopping. "Yes, my guardian. He worked for an unusual company once and he can work with something like this. He rents an apartment in London so we only have to contact him, one way or another. First we have to talk to Yugi though."

This time Rebecca knocked first before she entered closely followed by Tracey. Yugi was sitting on the windowsill, staring into nothingness. He turned around when he heard Rebecca knock and raised an eyebrow when Tracey followed the blonde Ravenclaw.

"Yugi", Rebecca said silently. "We're going to save Atem."

Yugi just stared at them, his eyes were empty and they scared Rebecca somewhat, but she didn't show it. Then Yugi nodded. "I assumed you'd say that. What are you planning?"

* * *

><p>I looked up torture methods to find inspiration for this chapter. People are very imaginative when hurting others, I must say. Yuck, I found some disgusting stuff. I mean, does anyone know what Chinese Water Torture is? It seems hard to believe, really. Horrible! Horrible! Horrible!<p>

Please review, or I'll tickle you. (That actually is classified as torture too, although we never think of that)


	30. Fire

I know it's been a unusual long time since I updated. But I have excuses which count.

First of, I just graduated and we celebrated that by camping and burning all our school stuff. He, that was fun. :)  
>Just after that it was my birthday.<br>I'm watching the European football championship. I'm really cheering for Holland, but I must admit that they are playing really poorly and momentarily don't deserve to win.  
>This summer I'm going to work too, so updates won't be as regular as they are now starting from mid July.<p>

Having that said. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

><p>The building was badly taken care of, there was graffiti on the gray concrete and half of the windows were covered with newspapers and cardboard, the others were either smashed or filthy. Each and every one of the small gardens of the apartments on the ground floor were flooded with weed. The furniture on the balconies, if there was any, was in bad shape and the colors had paled by the sun and rain.<p>

For some reason the small figure at the entrance had expected something better. Surely she had been told that he didn't like luxury, but this was even below her expectations.

When she entered she was hit by the scent of drain, rotten food, alcohol and sweat. It was a sickening stench and she hurried up the stairwell to get away from it as soon as possible. She didn't dare taking the elevator, not certain of its liability. When she reached the door she thought to be correct she looked at the slip of paper. The address was correct, at least she thought it was. She took some deep breaths before she raised her hand and pushed the doorbell.

It took a while before the door opened, but when it did she hastily backed down. The man who opened fitted in with the rough surroundings, at least in her opinion. He was tall, blonde, muscular and had gray eyes. His clothes were dark, a black tank top, a long leather jacket with buckles and chains, high boots, gray jeans and fingerless gloves. He did under no circumstance look friendly, in fact he seemed rather angry. When she reminded herself of who he was she took a step towards him again and straightened her back.

"Are you Raphael?" she wondered and looked him in the eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked without bothering to answer as he stared down on her. He crossed his arms and waited for an answer.

"I'm Tracey, a friend of Rebecca's", she said quietly. "I'm here to help you get to the Ministry in the first place."

Raphael didn't reply, he just opened the door further and invited her in. Tracey gave a little nod as thank you and walked into the apartment, followed by the man who could be no one else but Raphael.

The place was a large contrast against the neglected outside, it was stylishly decorated and very clean. What Tracey noted first of all was that it was impersonal, no pictures or other personal belongings on the table or windowsills. It was pretty clear that he had moved in haste, rather recently and that he could leave at any time.

Raphael walked into the kitchen and took two glasses from a cupboard. "Rebecca has only send me coded messages. They have been brief and only left me with more questions. How are things at Hogwarts?"

"Rebecca is trying to see how far the line goes. If she keeps this up she'll be expelled soon. She's giving the headmistress a hard time", Tracey said as she followed him to the kitchen.

He filled the glasses with water and handed her one. Then he walked back to the living room and invited her to sit down in the large dark-brown couch. He was thinking tactical she noticed as she sat down, she was with her back towards the window, which left nothing to distract her other than Raphael himself.

"Giving the headmistress a hard time?" Raphael wondered. "What exactly does she do. If Rebecca holds a grudge she doesn't hold back."

Tracey laughed. "So I've noticed. She's pretty cruel, uses whatever means she can think of. She and the twins make for a frightening trio."

"She's mentioned the twins", was all Raphael said and it took a while before Tracey understood that it was his request to tell him more.

"The twins went seventh year and have always been the pranksters of the school. When Dumbledore was still Headmaster they didn't cause real mayhem, surely they joked around a lot, but it was all in good fun. However when Umbridge took over they didn't stop at any boundaries, but they do have moral. They didn't really harm anyone. Rebecca doesn't give a damn though, she watches out for the students …"

Tracey went quiet and then thought of the time when Rebecca had made several potions that she had poured in random people's cups at breakfast. Some students had turned invisible, others multicolored, others lost the possibility to remember anything which happened while under the effect of the potion, but most of them suffered a sudden uncontrollable rage. The school had been chaos.

"...most of the time at least. Just a while ago she ignited a snow storm in the teachers lounge, Umbridge and three other teachers ended up in the Hospital Wing with frostbite and under cooled hand and feet. What Rebecca lacked in charms they made up for and what they lacked in potions Rebecca made up for. They have left school now though."

Raphael frowned but didn't get angry, like Tracey knew her parents would have been. They didn't know she had left the school yet and she was dreading the conversation. She sighed deeply. "You aren't mad at her?"

Raphael shook his head. "No, I'm not."

A man of few words. That was the impression Raphael had left her in the short moment she had known him. She also understood that he and Rebecca made a good combination, effective in cases like these and dangerous enemies.

"Do your parents know what is going on?" Raphael looked her in the eyes. "Do they know you aren't at the school. Why did you get leave anyway?"

"Werewolves", Tracey whispered. "The same reason as why Professor Muto can't stay much longer."

Raphael didn't even look surprised. "Aren't werewolves accepted at the school?"

Tracey shrugged and took a sip from the water. "They were. Professor Dumbledore accepted all kind of people, werewolves and all. I'm not the first one. Umbridge however would rather have had every werewolf marked and listed, then make special rules for them. Among those that they aren't allowed to be educated. Hadn't I left Umbridge would have eventually kicked me out without any apparent reason."

"And your parents?" Raphael asked, ignoring the information on the werewolves. Tracey was impressed and she appreciated it. The man was intimidating but also safe, somehow.

"They don't know yet. All they know about anything is what they have read in the Daily Prophet. That is troublesome, since I can't tell them everything I don't know how to explain any of it." Tracey's shoulders sunk. "I am not going to tell them yet. I have to figure something out first."

Raphael looked troubled but didn't say anything about it. "How long will Yugi be able to stay?"

"Parents have gathered over three thousand signatures demanding Yugi to leave. He'll be out soon, unless something huge happens and it doesn't seem that way."

Raphael nodded. "A sensitive subject. I've read the Daily Prophet, I was surprised by the hostility towards … You don't know his name?"

It was more of a statement than a question. Tracey shook her head. "No. For some reason Rebecca never calls him by name when talking to any outsiders. I've never asked, it's obvious she doesn't want to mention it."

"The Pharaoh's name was a sensitive subject since so much depended on it. Now it shouldn't matter, but it simply isn't ours to tell. How many know? How much do you know? I don't think Rebecca would have said a word."

Tracey explained to him about the books and scriptures Bill had found after the tomb-keepers' decease and how Ron, Hermione, Harry and Dean had started to figure out Professor Muto's secret. Then she told him about what happened in the Forbidden Forest and how she owed the Pharaoh his life. She also told him everything she knew on spirits and the extermination of them.

Raphael didn't interrupt her once but listened carefully. He didn't lack reactions to her words but yet seemed to take a certain distance to them. He was being quite objective when she told him about how spirits were exterminated. What pleased her was that he didn't once ask how she knew that much.

"How much do you know about this weak link?" Raphael asked when she was done.

Tracey shrugged. "I know who he is by name and face, but that's it, there are ways for me to find out more though."

"Secure ways?" he wondered skeptically.

"Naturally, I didn't come unprepared. I think I know most of what you need to know and otherwise I have the means to find out. Rebecca and I made sure we could keep in contact without being watched. All thanks to Fred and George and their genius tricks." Tracey said and smiled.

"Do they know?" Raphael asked warily.

Tracey shook her head. "Everyone at Hogwarts knows that Professor Muto was possessed, so does every other witch and wizard in entire Great Britain. No one knows who he is and frankly they don't care, possessing spirits are bad, the faster they're destroyed the better. Only at Hogwarts there are those who doubt the Daily Prophets words on the character of the spirit, this partly because of Professor Muto's reaction and a great deal due to Rebecca's reaction. She openly told Umbridge that she didn't know a thing and thus a selected few who can see past deeply rooted ideas have doubt. Fred and George are among them, they liked Professor Muto and they have seen Rebecca's reaction to all of this. They don't know who he is or what he can do, yet they know something is off and are willing to assist Rebecca at getting back at Umbridge in general."

Raphael nodded. "Good then. Best for us would be if we could simply buy the puzzle back. Unfortunately considering the great publication that's occurred around the Pharaoh the worst thing they could do is loose the puzzle, he will most likely not sell it, he wouldn't get away with it. I'll try, but we can't count on it. However the promise of money is one many people would go far for, someone who is only a little greedy can be manipulated, having him postpone the process should be possible if he's as weak a link as you claim."

"I really hope we can do more than that", Tracey sighed. "But he's greedy, can you offer him enough?"

Raphael smiled for the first time that day. "There was an organization called Paradius, it is no more now. It was run by four people only and was without a doubt the wealthiest company in the world. After the Pharaoh took effect on Dartz the company vaporized, the money that was left of it Valon, Alistair and I split equally, which made us probably the richest people this world knows. No one knows, of course, just like no one knew about the existence of Paradius itself."

Tracey raised an eyebrow and made a rather comical face. "Is that why you live in a place like this?"

Raphael nodded. "I feel no need of luxury."

Tracey threw her head backwards and laughed out loud. "No, only the Terminator style!" Her laugh increased until she couldn't stop and in that filthy building she felt more at home than she had at Hogwarts for quite a while.

Raphael too laughed. "It's a personal preference."

As soon as the laughter died the reality came back to the both of them. "Money isn't the issue, though I suppose the Wizarding World and we don't have the same currency", Raphael said.

Tracey nodded. "We can take care of that without trouble. Gringotts trades currency, nearly always large amounts of money for people who intend to stay a longer period of time. Getting into the Ministry isn't that hard either, the problem is getting into touch with the weak link and make a deal without someone expecting anything."

"Tomorrow we visit the Ministry, not to make a deal but just to look around. Is there any different way for us to get to the Department of Regulation and Control of Mystical Creatures? We have to get to know the area as good as we can, with luck we just might find out where that special room is", Raphael said. "I'd like you to point him out if we pass him."

Tracey smiled. "Easy. I'm a werewolf. The Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures could be my second home if I wanted. No one has more right to walk into that Department than I do. Especially since I'm an under-aged witch. Wolfsbane potion is expensive and as long as I'm under-aged I can get it for free at the Department. It wouldn't even be a cheap excuse, I actually am going to need them."

Raphael nodded and leaned backwards. "Should I worry?"

Tracey did however not smile as he had expected. "I once almost turned Rebecca into something like me. It were the beasts that saved her from me. I happened to be in the same room as her when I transformed and there was nothing to hold me back. You should worry, at all times, but the full moon is still a week away. Being a werewolf is horrible."

"I see", Raphael said and let go of the subject. "Tomorrow morning, until then you can stay here. Once we get back you should take contact with your parents."

Tracey wasn't going to protest. This was her opportunity to do what she could for the Pharaoh to whom she owed her life.

* * *

><p>"You should stop it right now!"<p>

Rebecca hissed furiously. "No! Don't try to stop me, Peter!"

"It's not just a question about being expelled anymore!" Peter argued loudly with her. "He'll whip you to shreds and he'll love it! Umbridge too!"

Rebecca was far from the only one causing mischief and although Filch had permission to whip he didn't get the time since whenever he caught a student different chaos surfaced. But Rebecca had teamed up together with Peeves and those two together made an even more frightening team than Fred, George and Rebecca had been. The main difference was that Rebecca and Peeves were a much crueller pair who didn't care for the safety of the students.

Peter and Rebecca were standing underneath the stands of the Quidditch pitch arguing loudly. Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw would soon begin and the stands were filling quickly but Peter and Rebecca didn't care.

"Do you think I care?" Rebecca snapped at him with a more hushed voice than his.

He grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly. "No! I know you don't care! You don't care about what happens to you and you don't care what happens to the students either if you go through with this. You could kill the players!"

Rebecca pulled herself loose and turned away, ignoring him. She could hear madam Hooch order the captains to shake hands. She found a spot where she unseen could see the pitch and readied her wand.

"No! Rebecca! What the hell happened to you?" he asked sounding more scared than angry now.

"Peter, I'm not a saint. I've never felt the need to be or will ever become. I will do this, it's a lesson they all need to learn", she hissed as madam Hooch blew her whistle. The game had begun.

"Please, don't do it Rebecca", Peter pleaded.

"I'm going to do this and then leave. Yugi is forced to leave soon too. Just imagine how much more peaceful this school will be when we leave. Leave Peter", Rebecca ordered him. To her surprise he obeyed, he turned away and left.

"I wont turn you in. If you need help with anything just ask", Peter said, dug his hands in his pocket and strolled away.

Rebecca didn't feel entirely okay with what had just happened but she couldn't find it to concern herself too much about it. This would crave all her attention. It was too bad that Peeves wouldn't leave the castle to help her, he liked it too much inside. She had however a vague suspicion that the castle would be in worse shape when she returned than when she left.

The Slytherins had started singing and Rebecca hesitated no more. She had practiced this on lesser scale in the Room of Requirement often enough, but she was still nervous. She whispered a long line of incantations which set of the different potions which she early that morning had spread over the field. That was how the show began.

The field started to burn, not at randomly but quite careful. The flames were low and of no danger, but they spread quickly in a decided pattern. In front of the teachers stands the words started to form in the fire. Students and teachers alike gasped.

_Ignorant_

Rebecca smiled, things were working just like she had planned. The flames disappeared and flared up again in different words.

_You know nothing_

Rebecca leaned backwards and watched the show she had started. Closely she noted the teachers reactions, especially Umbridge's reaction. She looked angered.

_What have you done?_

_You don't know who he is!_

Rebecca knew that everyone would now that this was her doing. But she had to get the message across. They had to know that what they were doing was wrong. She had talked to Yugi about it and he was okay with letting everyone know who Atem was if they were to destroy him. Naturally he knew that people would never be able to treat Yugi the same again but Yugi didn't care.

"Atem can't be forgotten, not by anyone. You are one of the people who know Atem best and most fit to submit the message", had Yugi said and that was what Rebecca had taken to heart.

"But what if he isn't destroyed? What if he comes back?" Rebecca had asked.

Yugi had simply looked at her and shook his head. "I don't have that kind of faith anymore, Rebecca. I don't think he's ever coming back at all."

Rebecca however did think they could save him and had decided not to tell anyone more than what she already had. They would know her fury, but not Atem's story.

_You left us in despair_

The flames were gradually increasing in height and seize. The quidditch players had stopped their game and were hoovering close to the teacher's stands so they could get a look at the words written. Among the students whispers emerged. Rebecca heard her own name once or twice, she didn't mind it though.

_He's suffered enough!_

Whispers went through the crowd. 'What does that mean?' and 'How can this be?'

_We all suffer and my revenge will be sweet_

Some second years started to scream, the first years were too intimidated or frightened to react at all. Umbridge stood up and demanded silence. Rebecca had to applaud Umbridge's timing. Things would take a turn now. The flames expanded in wavy patterns over the entire field and then flared up higher than the goals. It was a good thing that the players were flying above the stands and not on the field.

A screeching sound came from the flames as they violently tore at the field, burning away the grass and consuming the goalposts. The fire represented her fury and she was showing it at a point when no one would miss it. The entire school would know how angry she was and that she would not tolerate it. This world had destroyed everything she cared about, it was her right to destroy a little bit of this world.

Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick and several other did their best to extinguish the fire with several spells, but since the fire was magical and empowered by a potion they did not succeed, they had allowed it to grow for far too long. Though Rebecca frowned troubled, she had expected the teachers to be able to put it out, if they couldn't neither could she and although she knew that the fire wouldn't spread beyond the Quidditch pitch, it would destroy the stands. Stands where many students were gathered.

The fire wasn't suppose to be this large, she had practiced it a number of times always with success, why was it going wrong now? This was the last thing she wanted to do, she had wanted to show everyone her anger. But she wasn't angry enough to kill everyone.

She poked to the student whose legs were blocking her view slightly. "Get away!" she hissed. "Get to the school." The student froze a moment, then he bent down to look at who was talking but Rebecca had already moved. She was poking at many students legs, all telling them to get away and then moving on swiftly before they could get a glimpse of her. Slowly the message got across and the students were disappearing.

Then she heard a familiar voice instructing a group of first year Slytherins to go back to the school. It was Dean who went from group to group instructing them to go back to the school, he was focusing on first and second years from all houses so they'd be gone before the fire spread to far and the panic started.

When Rebecca heard Peter doing the same thing but with all students Rebecca herself stopped to try and figure out why the fire had grown so much bigger than initially planned and why they weren't colored. The potions should have colored the flames blue and green, but they were orange, red and yellow like flames tended to be. This fire she couldn't control.

The teachers did their last attempts to put out the fire and though they could decrease it slightly they couldn't dream of extinguishing it. Lee spoke through the commentating mic: "Every student calmly return to the Great Hall, leave the stands."

Panic didn't erupt, many students had already left and others were already leaving. They weren't fast enough for Rebecca's taste and eventually she got annoyed that students legs were hiding the fire from her sight. She climbed out from underneath the stands and watched the field more closely. A certain part of the fire was darker than the others, as if something was in it.

Snape had noticed it too and cast a spell to extinguish the fire once again. The something turned out to be a dragon and not any dragon either, the majestic head of Tyrant Dragon was looking her straight in the eyes. He shook his head slowly but he didn't loose eye-contact with her even once. Then the flames engulfed him again. Rebecca didn't know if this was a shadow creature on a stroll or not, but inside she was certain that Tyrant Dragon wasn't a shadow creature, he was from the Dominion. Yugi had told her that the shadow creatures had been severely weakened after the puzzle was smashed, to the point where they were useless while normally they could easily have withstood the magic of a regular wizard.

The dragon disapproving of her actions had to be from the Dominion of the Beasts. They had finally decided that they too should have a say in the way things were playing out. It couldn't be anything else. Not many students had seen him, but those who had were all the more eager to get out.

Snape looked at Rebecca with a frown but he put his wand away. He couldn't do anything. He just sat down again and watched the course of events. He wasn't the only teacher who remained seated although most headed towards the Great Hall. Umbridge was to Snape's disappoint still on the stands and she too did not seem worried about being burned to crisp although she was clearly furious. Madam Hooch was hoovering over the teachers' stands and had her arms crossed. She had chased the players away from the field and instructed them to to get to the Great Hall.

Not every player had though. Rebecca could vaguely see Ron's figure through the flames licking at the goal posts he had been defending. She was pretty sure that this game counted as canceled. Only very few students were left, mostly fourth and fifth years who all knew who was the creator of this havoc. Many were pointing at her shamelessly and whispered her name in their hushed conversations.

"Didn't I tell you!" Peter said when he found Rebecca staring at the dark spot in the flames. "You could have killed everyone here. The entire pitch will be destroyed. We've got to get out!" He sounded something between angry, worried and heartbroken.

Rebecca sat down and shook her head. "No, I don't think that is necessary."

"Are you suicidal now too?" he yelled furiously, feeling as if he had lost a friend, his closest friend.

Rebecca smirked. "No. I still have things to do. I think that the fire is taken care of though." She didn't look at him once, the dark spot was moving.

Suddenly the dragon shot up above the meters high flames and roared loudly. Umbridge stopped yelling and instead just stared at the dragon. Shock was the overall reaction of every human being present, excluding Snape and Rebecca. It circled over the flames twice and then took off upwards, followed by the flames. Before Tyrant Dragon even reached the clouds all fire was gone from the field and had gathered around him, only to be extinguished by the moisture of the clouds.

The field was damaged greatly. All the grass had burned away and had left nothing but black smoking stumps. The poles on which the south and eastern stands were build were all singed. All six of the goal posts were completely burned, one of them had collapsed under the fire and one broke through the middle after the fire had disappeared. Most of the clothing decorating the stands in blue and bronze or gold and red were burned away completely and those which were still hanging were black and smoking. In addition to that it smelled an awful lot of sulfur and the stands were covered in soot. It looked like a battlefield.

Rebecca didn't even try to hide it was her doing when Madam Hooch flew over to her. She just remained seated where she was and sighed as the woman with the hawk-eyes stepped off the broom. "Miss Hawkins, was this your doing?"

Rebecca looked at her a second, then looked back at the destruction she had left behind. The Dragon might have disagreed on her actions, but why had he then enhanced the fire so much?

"She did it", Peter whispered, turned around and walked away.

Rebecca was surprised that he had turned her in. He had said he wouldn't, so why had he? She wasn't angry, disappointed mostly. She looked after Peter who turned around and met her gaze. "I'm sorry Rebecca, but you've got to stop before you harm someone, including yourself."

Rebecca laughed out loud and stood up. "Ah, for me Peter? How sweet."

Peter's expression turned to that of disgust, he averted his eyes and walked away. Dean who had heard the conversation shook his head with a frown and hurried after Peter. Dean had been pretty down ever since Tracey left, he didn't know that Rebecca and Tracey had a way of communicating.

Umbridge walked up the stands where Rebecca was standing together with Madam Hooch. "Such behavior is not tolerated at my school, Hawkins", she said with a falsely sweet voice that made Rebecca want to do something that was even less intolerable. She was furious, devastated and grieving all at the same time and she was being pushed towards the limit. _It's common for teenagers to have unstable emotions. _Whoever had said that Rebecca didn't know, but at the moment unstable seemed like a large understatement. It was more like a huge tidal wave without end sweeping away all named common sense.

Rebecca stared down at Umbridge, actually the woman wasn't much taller than Yugi and her looks combined with her way of acting made her a rather disgusting person. She looked away, not being able to stand the sight of the pink-clad woman who with such glee had pronounced the destruction of a friend anymore. She sat down again and crossed her arms. She made the perfect picture of stubborn teenager, but the fact was that a fire was burning inside her, a fire so strong that made the blaze from before pale in compare.

Filch came hurrying up the stands too with his whip in one hand. Rebecca wondered if Peter thought about that when he turned her in. She honestly doubted it. "May I Headmistress? May I?" he asked eagerly.

She had been prepared for this too, but she was just curious on what Umbridge would say. "No", the toad-like woman declared to Rebecca's surprise. She was pretty sure it had something to do with the look in madam Hooch's eyes when she saw Filch's whip. "We are not allowed to punish students who don't go to this school anymore. Miss Hawkins, you are hereby expell ..."

"Headmistress!" a sleek voice yelled and the owner of it walked up the stands too. The man was tall and blond, was holding a piece of parchment and the look in his face was filled with glee. "They told me I could find you here. Every member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors and many parents signed this request to have Professor Yugi Muto removed from the school before nightfall."

"Ah, Lucius", Umbridge said, unable to hide a smile. "Well, I suppose we go and tell him the unfortunate news." Umbridge wasn't sorry at all though. The school was starting to form to her advantage. Fred and George were gone, Tracey had left with them and she and Yugi would be gone before the sun set. The only one Umbridge had not been able to get away from the school yet was Hagrid, but that probably wouldn't last much longer either. "Miss Hawkins, I think you and Professor Muto can take the same train out of here. Go pack your bags. I'll contact your parents."

Rebecca's fury blazed up even more and she laughed out loud, sounding slightly maniacal. "Did you forget Umbridge? My last relative died at Christmas. Ain't it unfortunate?" Then she turned her gaze on Lucius. "I suggest you don't come along and tell Yugi, the turn of events could be rather unfortunate. _Satsujin-sha_."

Lucius stared at her, not understanding a thing and right then and there Rebecca felt capable of murderer. Her hands shook. With those words she stood up and walked away before she did something stupid, heading towards her dorm to gather the small amount of things she had brought with her and to tell Tracey they were coming soon. She hoped that their little road trip to the Ministry of Magic that morning had been alright.

She took the little book she had received from Fred and George. They had said something about this way of communicating being inspired from something rather freaky. For some reason they had warned her for possession and if she wanted to know what that meant that she had to ask Ginny. Rebecca hadn't asked.

'Are you there?' she wrote on a blank page and like always the text disappeared as soon as it appeared.

'Yes. Raphael found him. Talked with him for about five minutes and then made an appointment with him. He's good.' appeared on the page just long enough for Rebecca to read it before it disappeared too.

'I know. He's done things like this very often. He'll accomplish something, I'm not worried about that' she wrote. 'Is he there?'

'I'll go get him' Tracey replied and a minute later. 'Okay, were here.'

'Good, first of all. I was just expelled. Tonight I have to leave Hogwarts.'

Rebecca wasn't quite sure how Raphael would react on that. He knew that she had to be expelled though, how else would she be able to help them?

'What did you do?' Raphael wrote.

'I burned down the Quidditch pitch during the Ravenclaw against Gryffindor game.'

There was a minutes pause where Tracey probably explained to Raphael what Quidditch was before anyone replied. It was a good thing that Rebecca could tell by the handwriting if it was Tracey or Raphael who wrote.

'What!' was Tracey reaction. 'Why?'

Rebecca ignored that. 'Second of all, Lucius Malfoy just barged in demanding that Yugi leaves the castle before nightfall. We're leaving together, although Yugi doesn't know I'm expelled yet. I'm gathering my things right now.'

'Ah, that was to be expected' Tracey wrote, somewhat slowly.

'Can you pick me up at Kings-Cross station?' Rebecca asked, feeling as if she had missed her ride from a party.

'I''ll be there' Raphael wrote and with that the conversation was ended although Rebecca knew she would have to tell a whole lot more on their ride home.

Rebecca threw her stuff in her trunk and ran into Luna on the stairs. "That was no ordinary dragon", she stated.

"What makes you think that?" Rebecca asked annoyed by the somewhat overly attentive girl. Luna could really get her into trouble.

"You got expelled", she said and looked at Rebecca's trunk. "But that's why you did it. Why do you dislike Lucius Malfoy so much?"

Rebecca just shook her head.

"Greet Tracey and Professor Muto from me", Luna said and walked past Rebecca who just stood and stared after the girl. Then she gathered herself and ran down the stairs and out the common room before someone could say anything.

Then she changed her mind, she had to find Dean. He knew enough, Tracey had told Rebecca that. The Great Hall, of course, everyone was supposed to gather there. She hurried that way and put the book inside her coat. It was nice to be in regular clothing again rather than the school robes. She walked into the Great Hall together with a stream of other students so she would not stand out too much. Discretely she hurried towards the Gryffindor table and handed Dean the book. "Take good care of this", she whispered in his ear. "It's the only safe way to take contact with either me or Tracey."

Dean just nodded. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>He had often told Yugi that it was as if his life began the moment he solved the puzzle. Now he understood why, what would anyone be able to react to when they were in pure darkness without memories. Nothing, nothing at all. Now he had memories, a lot of them and he had nothing better to do but to think about them.<p>

But for some reason his mind felt scattered, he couldn't get a hold over all of them. It was as if they somehow had disappeared. When Fudge had taken the puzzle from Yugi Atem could still feel their bond, although he couldn't reach out to Yugi. His spirit was whole and although he was trapped in his soul room in the puzzle he felt at least like a human.

Then everything had cracked and eventually shattered, the room but also he himself. With a tearing pain he had been ripped into something less than a soul. He was there, but at the same time he was not. He had forgotten how dark it had been. Unable to remember he had forgotten the darkness.

It was so dark, the Shadows were nothing in compare to this. This darkness ripped and tugged at his soul, dividing it and putting it together again. Just like his memories came and disappeared again. He knew that the puzzle was scattered, that's why he felt like he did. When the memory of Yugi telling him that it had taken him eight years to solve the puzzle came Atem got worried, he was glad when it disappeared from his memory again though. When the memory of Pandora showed up when Yugi had solved the puzzle in just a couple of minutes he was relieved, just to loose that feeling when the memory vaporized.

It was an odd state of existence which he wouldn't wish upon anyone. He did his very best to gather his soul and mind, but he couldn't. Fighting to be free again, knowing it was pointless to do so when the puzzle was scattered. The moments he recalled that it was scattered and it wasn't always that he remembered that it was pointless to try.

Once or twice he tried to speak, but he had no body and no sense of time. He had no idea how much time had passed since the puzzle was taken from Yugi. It felt like an eternity. The memories of Yugi always made Atem smile, every time they showed up again he felt slightly happy, and since they were new every time he never stopped to feel happiness and longing. At the same time he never ceased to get scared every time his more darker memories appeared.

Atem, Yami, he wasn't always certain about his name or which one was correct even if he could remember both. Sometimes he couldn't remember either of them. He was at all times confused. At the same time he felt constantly drowsy, as if he was about to fall asleep, not completely conscious.

He wasn't always certain that his emotions were consistent with what he was supposed to feel. Sometimes he wondered if he was feeling angry when he was supposed to feel happy and sad when he was supposed to be satisfied.

He was always aware of one thing at all times though and that was that he wanted it to end, as soon as possible.

_Please, please let it end._

* * *

><p>I hope that Atem's little part worked out okay, or at least is acceptable. It was requested by AndiNara that I'd have a part from his point of view.<p>

Please review.

I'm going to a festival this weekend, so it's hard to tell when I'll be able to reply. But they make me so happy so please review.


	31. Torture Master

I've never read or seen Yu-Gi-Oh GX but I just found out that it there is explained how the Dominion of the Beast works. I got it wrong, not completely, but some. One's Ka lives in the Dominion of the Beast when you're alive as well as dead and not only when your dead like I said. Ah, I'm not going to change anything, what I said is mostly correct.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"Good evening", he greeted them as the two figures descended from platform 934 carefully making sure no one saw them.

As soon as Rebecca and Yugi were standing safe and sound on Kings-Cross Station Rebecca threw all called care out of the window and flew Raphael around the neck. She had missed him.

"Thank you", Yugi replied with a hushed voice and gave an unconvincing smile which Raphael didn't bother returning.

In silence they left the platform and headed for the parking lot. When they sat down in the car Rebecca spoke. "Where's Tracey?"

"In my apartment. Our intentions were to have her contact her parents after we got back from the Ministry of Magic. However then you contacted us and Tracey chose to wait, she still hasn't found an excuse for why she doesn't want to come home." Raphael fell silent and started the car. He carefully maneuvered the vehicle, a Land Rover created for all terrains, out onto the streets. London's traffic never ceased, it was as lively at midnight as it was on the middle of the day. The amount of people hadn't decreased either.

Rebecca didn't comment that information. She wondered how Raphael could go along with something like that, he if anyone was sensitive when it came to family, she had expected him to force Tracey out of the deal entirely and send her to her parents.

"The Headmistress contacted me", Raphael said after they had sat silent a while, interrupting Rebecca's pondering.

Yugi in the backseat made a disgusted sound and Rebecca stiffened. "Why?"

Raphael looked at her disapprovingly. "To tell me you where expelled and why. She also said that you should count on the fact that you'll never will find a school willing to accept anyone like you ever again and that this will end up in your file and will ensure that you'll never find a job anywhere in the Wizarding World", Raphael said calmly.

Rebecca stared out the window into the lively city. "Are you mad?"

Raphael shrugged. "Why would I? You made the choice to burn the Quidditch pitch down to the ground, like she put it. If that has ruined your chances in the Wizarding World than it's your problem, not mine."

"Disappointed then?" she asked, not comfortable with his indifferent tone.

For some reason Raphael smiled, it was a small smile which disappeared even before it appeared. "No. Morally speaking I should be angry and disappointed because you vandalized school property. I'm not. You can take responsibility for the aftermath yourself. And lastly, I would have done something in the same style had I been in your position at your age."

Rebecca nodded. "There is something more to it. A creature from the Dominion of the Beasts extinguished the fire."'

The car made an unexpected move which clearly showed how surprised Raphael was. Yugi gasped, he had not seen what happened when Rebecca put the Quidditch pitch in flames, he had only seen how it looked afterward. He had not known about the dragon.

"Are you sure the dragon was from the Dominion", Raphael asked.

Yugi spoke for the first time since Raphael had greeted them. "It must have been. The Shadow Creatures are weakened now that there is no one left to wield the Shadows which empower them. The Shadows only obey those who are meant for them, not one of these people is left anymore." Yugi touched the little red bag around his neck. "They could not have extinguished it."

"A familiar dragon?" Raphael wondered who took Yugi for his word without trouble.

Rebecca nodded. "Tyrant Dragon. He seemed to disapprove of my actions." She was bothered by that, but that was partly since she didn't know why he had disapproved. She had done a lot of different things of which he could have disapproved, it could have had to do with her small row with Peter and nothing with the fire. It could be a whole lot of different things, she was however grateful he had extinguished it before it had gotten out of hands.  
>She wondered if it had something to do with what Fire Kraken had told her. That she would break Yugi's and the Pharaoh's spiral by teaching them a valuable lesson and that she had to be prepared. Was she doing it wrong? Were her actions destroying the chance she had for helping them? She wasn't sure, but she was pretty convinced that getting Atem back was the most logical of actions to help either of them.<p>

Raphael didn't say anything. He just sat quiet and thought deeply. Eventually he spoke. "Rebecca, do you know what your Ka is?"

Rebecca shook her head immediately, but then she stopped to think. "My Patronus is Luster Dragon Nr. 2. I think it could be him."

Yugi frowned. "Aren't Patronuses supposed to be animals?"

"Well, yes", Rebecca admitted, being just as bothered by that fact as Yugi was. "But mine isn't."

"What's a Patronus?" Raphael asked slightly irritated.

"A Patronus is a positive energy field used as shield against the darkest of creatures like Dementors which feed on happiness. They tend to take the form of an animal if the caster of the charm is skilled enough. But mine turned out to be a dragon, Luster Dragon nr. 2", Rebecca explained briefly.

Raphael just nodded at the information. He took a final turn, parked and stopped the engine. Rebecca looked at the building which they had parked behind and shook her head. That was so typical Raphael. Yugi didn't even notice the state in which the building was in.

In silence the three made their way towards the building which was eery silent considering it's location. This close to central London it should have been pulsing with life, but it reminded more of something from a horror movie. Rebecca was relieved when they reached the front door and headed up the stairs as Raphael quietly informed them that the elevator was not to be trusted under any circumstance.

Tracey opened the door before Raphael had even started to reach for his key. She pulled Rebecca in and gave the blonde a hug. "You moron! Don't tell me you actually burned the Quidditch pitch down!"

"I did", Rebecca replied as Yugi closed the door behind them. "I also handed Dean the book. I thought that connection will be most useful."

Tracey stopped looking angry and her expression turned to that of delight instead. "Really?"

Rebecca nodded and sat down on the couch, the day had been long and she was exhausted. "Yes. Really. He'll keep us up to date with what is happening in the school. He too wants to help, if he can that is." Rebecca looked at Raphael. "You made an appointment."

Yugi tensed, he didn't care for much else than that. His number one priority was getting Atem back and at the moment it was Raphael who was most likely to be able to help him with that.

"Yes, I did. He's the kind of person who is easily persuaded into doing what someone else wants as long as he gains something from it. Having him postpone the process will be much easier than I expected it to be. With a little help from him I'll also be able to locate the puzzle and might even get a look at it. I don't know how much more I'll be able to do though", Raphael said and he too sat down.

"When?" Yugi asked, not the slightest bit of hope in his voice. Rebecca at the other hand thought that Raphael had sounded more positive than she had expected.

"Tomorrow", Raphael said. "In the afternoon." He fell silent and they could all see he was thinking deeply. "Or make that today", he said suddenly looking at the clock showing an hour past midnight. "I think wisest would be if we all have as much rest as possible before tomorrow. Rebecca you are coming with me. Tracey, you are going to contact your parents after we've slept. Do it before we leave, while we're gone or after we come back, I don't care. Let them know you're fine."

"Can I do anything?" Yugi wondered silently.

"Keep a low profile", Raphael said slightly inconsiderate. "Don't let anyone know you're in London, least of all that you have connections to me. I'd prefer if you stayed in the apartment."

Yugi nodded. He had counted on something like that, although he did not like it. He would under no circumstance complain. They were all partly doing this because of him, he was the only one forced to help Atem, the rest had a free will in the matter and yet they had stayed. Even Tracey.

"Rebecca, Tracey, you two can take the bedroom. Yugi and I can take a couch each", Raphael ordered quickly and it didn't take long until they were all safe and sound in bed, or what had to pass for it.

However neither Tracey nor Rebecca felt like sleeping despite the heavy day in front of them. "You know what, Rebecca", Tracey said as they together laid in the undersized double-bed. "When I woke up in that hospital bed and saw you sitting there I never could have dreamed that I'd end up like this."

"And what's like this?" Rebecca asked warily.

"Well, you know. Here I am laying with you in a bed in a horrible apartment in London, having fled the school together with Fred and George Weasley of all people, trying to figure out what lie I'm going to tell my parents tomorrow since I can't tell them that I'm trying to help the previously possessed history teacher to get the spirit of a five-thousand year old Pharaoh back who the Ministry of Magic is currently trying to exterminate. That's like this. You sure turned my life upside down Rebecca", Tracey muttered.

"No one forces you to stay", Rebecca said and yawned. She was tired.

"But I want to do this, don't get me wrong. The fact remains however that this is an incredibly weird situation of which I'm not sure is all that ideal for anyone involved", Tracey sighed and stared at the ceiling. It had a grayish white color and cracks all through the plaster.

"Tracey, this little thing could ruin your future forever if it goes wrong", Rebecca warned.

Tracey laughed at that. "You are far too open-minded Rebecca, you can't see me like the rest of the Wizarding World does. Since I'm a werewolf they can hardly speak to me, let alone give me a job of any kind. We're shunned Rebecca, I don't really have a future after Hogwarts."

"Now that's sad", Rebecca stated and she too stared at the ceiling. "What are you going to tell your parents?"

"I dunno", Tracey said. "Help me figure ..." Tracey was interrupted by a huge yawn on her part, "... something out will ye?"

"Hm, that'll be hard. I'm not good at making up excuses. I usually use the …" Then Rebecca started to smile broadly. It was a genuinely happy smile.

"What are you smiling at?" Tracey asked sounding more asleep than awake.

"I have access to a computer again!" she laughed and looked at Tracey, only to find the werewolf fast asleep.

* * *

><p>Tracey was hesitating, that was for sure. She looked rather comical standing there looking at the phone as if it was a scorpion about to sting her. She had dialed every but the last number and she did not look eager to do that any time soon. She had decided to call her parents before Rebecca and Raphael would leave. Now they were all gathered around the kitchen table with exception for Tracey who was standing by the phone hanging on the wall.<p>

"Go on, Tracey", Raphael said quietly encouraging.

Tracey pushed the final button and brought the horn to her ear. "I really don't like this", she told them as she nervously fidgeted with the phone cord.

_Hello_

It had been quite a while since Tracey had heard her mother's voice and her mother didn't sound happy at all. In fact she sounded pretty close to heartbroken.

"Hello mom", Tracey said and let go of the phone cord.

_Tracey?_

"Yes mom, it's me."

_My God do you know how much you scared us?_

"No, mom, I do not. But I'm sorry anyway."

_Where are you? Come home! Why did you leave?_

"Mom, I'm not coming home just yet. I have something to do first", Tracey said, who still hadn't come up with an excuse and therefore had decided to simply not tell her mother what was going on and leave it at that.

_What are you talking about?_

"The school has turned into a minor version of hell. That together with Umbridge's opinion on werewolves I would have gotten kicked out within a week anyway."

_But then come home! Why won't you?_

"I can't tell you, mom. But perhaps I can after I've done it, maybe."

_Maybe! Tracey Davis I will not allow such behavior! Come home immediately! It's bad enough that you left the school. I can't believe you would refuse to come home!_

"Eh, mum. You know all these superhero movies dad likes so much where the main character always gets into trouble with their parents since they can't tell them what they are up to?"

Raphael couldn't help but to smile at that, although he didn't find the example fitting. But it could just work and that was the main point.

_What has that to do with anything?_

"I have to save someone before I can come home and I can't tell you. But I'm in good company and I'll be coming home as soon as we're finished."

_Tracey, are you in danger?_

Tracey looked at the people sitting around the table. Rebecca shrugged, there was no telling how dangerous this was or could become. Nothing was certain at all.

"I don't know mom, not at the moment I think."

_Can I convince you to come home?_ Tracey mother sounded slightly hopeful.

"No mom. I have to do this. It's important."

_Has it anything to do with the events at Hogwarts lately?_

"Goodbye mom, I'll be in touch", Tracey said and before her mother could protest she hung up the phone.

Raphael shook his head disapprovingly but he didn't say anything. They had different things to focus on. He looked quite amusing in his Wizarding wear which Tracey had gotten for him before they had gone to the Ministry, it did not suit him at all. Rebecca had simply taken her Hogwarts robes, although she had removed the emblem so no one would wonder what a Hogwarts students was doing out of the school at this time of year.

"When are you two leaving?" Tracey asked and sat down on the last available chair, keen to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Soon", Raphael said. "This man will be meeting me in his office at the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Rebecca will follow too and take the potion she made to turn people invisible. While I have a conversation with the weak link Rebecca will look for the room in which the puzzle is kept."

Rebecca nodded gravely. "We have however not found a way to communicate with each other. It's unfortunate that we can't use modern technological devices, it would have made the job easier. There is no way of knowing when Raphael's meeting with the weak link ends and it's hard to tell when the potion stops working."

"Why do you insist on calling him the weak link?" Yugi asked slightly annoyed

"Alexander Bulstrode", Tracey said. "The father of a classmate of mine."

"Millicent Bulstrode?" Yugi said surprised.

Tracey nodded. "Yes, indeed. I'd say that I hope he is like her, that would make that he can be talked into anything, but I suppose he can't be much like her. I reckon that for working on something like that one needs some sort of brain."

"Miss Davis!" Yugi said reproachful, sounding like a teacher for the first time in a while.

Tracey went red. "I'm sorry", she whispered ashamed but couldn't help but smile a bit as she saw Rebecca's grin.

Raphael sighed and stood up. "Let's go, my meeting is scheduled in about three quarters of an hour and I do not want to be late."

The rest stood up too and Rebecca hurried to the kitchen cupboard where she kept the flask with rare Invisibility Potion. Tracey looked at it with a frown. "You know, what they say is true. Late students really are capable of doing wonders."

Rebecca shook her head. "I'm good at potions. My spells still suck big time."

"You burned down the Quidditch pitch!" Tracey protested.

Rebecca shook the bottle she was holding in her hands. "With the help of potions."

"Still, only a selected few can make Invisibility Potion!" Tracey protested. "It's incredible!"

Rebecca laughed out loud and leaned towards Tracey. "And only a selected few can make Wolfsbane Potion."

"Motivation", Tracey stated unamused and pushed the Ravenclaw away gently. "Then again, you are a Ravenclaw. Oh, fair old wise Ravenclaw."

Raphael smiled as he from the sidelines watched the confusing exchange between his charge and the girl who had randomly showed up at his door. It was clear that it was Tracey who kept some life in the apartment. They would have been a rather depressed bunch without her.

Tracey wished them luck and Yugi just glared at them looking rather gloomy as they left for the Ministry. Raphael was standing in the door opening waiting for her but when Rebecca saw Yugi's sad expression and hopeless posture she turned around and hugged him. "Have some faith. He'll come back."

Yugi didn't react and Tracey looked at the small scenario with a frown. As Raphael and Rebecca closed the door behind them she spoke: "Professor Muto, no offense, but it's extremely interesting to see you outside the school."

"Don't call me that", he said lifelessly and walked out the hall, leaving her alone in the hallway.

* * *

><p>The Ministry of Magic was impressive, the moment Rebecca stepped onto the dark wooden polished floor she felt as if she was entering a different world. She looked down at the floor, feeling slightly dizzy at the absence of her feet. People entered on occasion through the fireplaces in the walls with wisps of green flames. The ceiling was by far the most intriguing sight which met Rebecca, it was peacock-blue with golden symbols changing all the time. She did however not permit herself to take in the sights which met her for very long, she had to focus on not being walked into by people who could not see her. She kept as close to Raphael as she could, it was a good thing that it was pretty calm at the moment.<p>

Raphael frowned as he saw the Fountain of Magical Brethren. "That is not reality, is it?"

"No", Rebecca whispered. Centaurs look down on every other race and goblins aren't very fond of us either. In addition to that many wizards and witches mistreat creatures like house-elfs, centaurs and goblins if they get the chance. Now be quiet!"

Raphael headed straight for the elevator so that the security man would not give him a hard time since he didn't own a wand. Last time he had simply stated he had broken his wand by mistake, the security guard had been grumpy about that since he had to check the wand.

Rebecca sneaked into the elevator behind Raphael and stood in the corner behind her guardian who with his broad posture blocked it from access for anyone else. When the elevator stopped at the fourth floor Rebecca hurried after Raphael again. She was caught between excitement and annoyance about being invisible and of course worry for Yugi and Atem.

The moment he entered the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures a short and stout man walked up to him. He took one of Raphael's hands in both of his. "Mister Longjohn, such a pleasure to see you again. Follow me."

Rebecca choked her laughter at the silly name Raphael had given the man and followed in silence. There was no one else present in the hallway at the moment, but that could apparently change at any time considering the hurry Alexander Bulstrode was in to get to the door at the very end of the hallway.

There were seven doors in the dark hallway, three to the left, three to the right and one at the end. The corridor was long and dark, leaving a very unwelcome feeling. The first door to the left had a sign which with luminescent letters spelled: _Beast Division._ The first door to the right stated: _Being Division_. Rebecca wondered how any creature could know if they were considered Being or Beast.

Bulstrode's voice brought Rebecca back to the there and then. "The walls are created so that no creatures magic will work in here. House-elves can't Apparate to and from here, they can't use magic in here and no other creature can either but most importantly, spirits can't leave this place. From the moment a spirit enters this hallway they cannot leave, neither can they enter through any of these doors."

Rebecca gently poked Raphael. She had a question for mister Bulstrode, but of course she couldn't ask herself. "Does human magic work?" Raphael asked, catching Rebecca's drift.

"Yes, naturally. Wizard magic works everywhere in the entire Ministry of Magic", he answered.

The next two doors stated: _Pest Advisory Board_ and _Office of Misinformation_. It seemed that all these doors leaded to more doors since the signs only showed sub-divisions of the Department. The next two doors had sign saying: _Goblin Liaison Office_ and _Centaur Liaison Office._ Rebecca raised an eyebrow at the two doors. For some reason they seemed something of a joke.

"That office", Bulstrode said and pointed at the Centaur Liaison Office, "is a joke. No centaur has ever even set foot in it. Being send to the Centaur Office is the same as being sacked. Three people have actual jobs there, three! Those jobs are jokes too since the centaurs ignore everything they decide."

Raphael wisely kept his mouth shut. Finally they reached the last door in the hallway. This door had no doorknob and a lot of heavy magical locks on it. Breaking in there would under no circumstance be easy if that turned out to be required. Rebecca carefully paid attention as Bulstrode carefully and with a lot of drama, asking Raphael to back away, opened the locks. Raphael did as told but Rebecca went closer, looking carefully at how he opened the door. She memorized it as good as she could but actually there was little point to it. Most of the things the locks required where personal and would require someone who worked there to open the door.

That was of course unless they where there to begin with. Rebecca lifted her wand, which since it was part of her was invisible too, and whispered _Confundo_ as she pointed at the locks. An alarm set of at once and Alexander Bulstrode went red. "Dammit!" he yelled and brought out his wand.

"_Muffliato_", he said and the locks went quiet, although they started glowing a bright red. Alexander Bulstrode turned around at once when he heard a door open behind him. An elderly men came from the door with the _Pest Advisory Board_ sign. "What's going o...?"

"_Confundo!_" was the word Bulstrode replied with and muttering confused for himself the elderly man turned around. Before he closed the door behind him they could hear him say: "No, it was nothing."

Raphael put on a perfect act, tapping his feet annoyed and looking doubtful in the eyes of the man who would exterminate a friend unless they did anything about it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry", the stout man repeated a number of times and then looked at the locks. "This has never happened before! Eh, right, what to do? Yes! I know. Can I please practice magic on you, mister Longjohn?"

Raphael did not look the least pleased with that. "Why would you?"

"There is a spell to open the door at once in cases of emergency. I cannot take the chance that you'd hear it. It's a spell especially designed for these doors."

Doors. That meant the spell worked on more than just this one door, but probably on all doors with such a lock. With a little luck, perhaps even to the one leading to the torture chamber Tracey had told them about. She looked at Raphael, praying he'd turn away from his dislike of magic just this once.

"Fine", he grunted. "But be quick."

With a simple spell Bulstrode made sure that Raphael couldn't hear while Rebecca came as close as she could. She had to hear that spell. Alexander Bulstrode had a pretty high-pitched voice, higher than Yugi's even, but it allowed him to speak with a low voice if he had to. Luckily Rebecca heard exactly what he said. Bulstrode waved at Raphael, telling him to come and enter. Than he closed the door and whispered a different incantation, one which Rebecca missed. She cursed silently, she had not been prepared for a secondary spell.

Instead of worrying too much about it she focused on the hallway they were in. For understandable reasons Rebecca felt as if she had just left Dracula's mansion and stepped into a space-ship from an old Sci-Fi movie. Everything was white, the doors, the walls, everything, even the flames which enlightened the room where white, giving a very familiar TL-like atmosphere. The first five doors where offices of the people working in the Spirit Division. There were three name-tags on each door with exception for the last of the five, which only had one name. The director of the Spirit Division Rebecca assumed.

"No one else is here", Bulstrode informed them to Rebecca's delight. "This is everyone's day off." He opened the second door to the right and entered casually, sitting down behind his desk and inviting Raphael to sit. Raphael had purposely not closed the door but Rebecca decided to check out the rest of the Spirit Division, which didn't look all too big, while she still had the time.

She walked further down the hallway and saw a door with a sign saying _Ghosts_. She supposed that in this world ghost and spirit where far from the same thing like they often seemed to be in the muggle-world. She ignored the door, mostly since it didn't have the security which had been present on the first door. The next said _Inferi_ and although that door was most definitely locked and jammed the sounds from the inside indicated that it was more to keep things in than to keep people out.

Rebecca passed a couple other doors which were of no interest to her, like the dossier room and storage room. But when she reached the room which had a sign saying: _Room of Destroyed Spirits _she suddenly found her task a lot harder. They should at all cost prevent that Atem ended up there. She wondered however why there was such a room, Tracey had said that they were spread in the ocean.

Without further delay she walked to the end of the hallway. To her left there was nothing else but something that seemed to be a sort of mailbox. Rebecca pulled it towards her and saw that it was a sort of box, she assumed from the smell that whatever was put into it wouldn't be amused when it reached the other side. Rebecca was pretty sure that on the other side was the basilisk waiting to receive his meal. This was a smart and safe way to give him the food he needed. At least not everyone at the Ministry seemed as stupid as Bulstrode.

The door right in front of her had the heaviest lock of all those she had seen so far. She wondered if the spell would work, but she wouldn't try it. To the left the door was unsecured and Rebecca opened it slowly. She slipped in as soon as she could and let the door be.

A high-pitched voice started to squeal at once. "Minnie! Look. Someone opened the door!" A house-elf even shorter than average pointed at the door with pointy fingers and his tennis ball eyes were wide with fear.

The house-elf called Minnie did however not seem impressed. "That door has been broken as long as us has been here", Minnie complained and went to close the door.

The room was extremely dark and Rebecca was sure that even if she had been visible they would not have noticed her.

"Instead of looking at the door", Minnie continued, looking annoyed, "look for the spirit like we were ordered!"

The shorter house-elf squealed in awe and ran for the wall, Rebecca let him although she adverted her eyes. Most of all she had wanted to stop him from hurting himself, but she couldn't do that. She wondered vaguely how the elves were treated here at the Ministry, she doubted it was any good.

The moment she looked up she looked straight through the large window to the left of the door and she had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't scream. She had known this, yet she hated it, hated it fiercely. Did the Ministry really practice those things on people? Rebecca was more grateful than ever that Yugi had been so easily separated from Atem. That anyone could survive that.

The room seemed to be a gathering of torture devices from every century. Somewhere against a wall stood an Iron Chair, just like it was always described. There where spikes all over it, on the back, seat, arm-rests, leg-rest and foot-rest. Next to it several bricks were lying, she supposed they where used as weight. A traditional Rack was present too. She chose not to even register the many other present torture devices.

Rebecca noticed that tears were rolling down her face and for once she wasn't annoyed by them since she knew they weren't a sign of sorrow, but of fear and relief. The puzzle was laying in the middle of the room, the pieces gathered in a pile. It looked as if someone had casually discarded them there and that someone later had swept them together.

Minnie and the other elf were standing in front of the window in silence, looking for something they clearly couldn't see. Rebecca wondered where Atem was at, how did he feel? Was he conscious of anything, or was it as if he was asleep? Endless darkness? His soul-room? Rebecca didn't know, Yugi probably had a better answer than she had.

She saw the hatch giving the basilisk access to the room and shook her head. The door with the heavy security had to be the one leading to the chamber she was looking at now with disgust written over her invisible face.

She turned around and left the room again, Minnie started complaining about the door again as the other elf proclaimed that they were haunted. Rebecca shook her head and walked back to the office where Bulstrode and Raphael were still talking. Mostly small talk it seemed.

Rebecca walked into the room and touched Raphael lightly on the shoulder to make him know that she was done and that she had located the room they were there for.

"I believe four or five different people have had this desk before me. I have the most dangerous job in the team you know", Bulstrode proclaimed and sounded proud.

Raphael nodded. "Then may I ask what you work with?"

"I'm the torture master. The only one in the room when the spirit is separated from the body. It has happened several times that these foul beings kill those who have caused them so much trouble." He still sounded proud.

The blood drained from Rebecca's face and her adult accomplice in this scam narrowed his eyes. "I have heard of your methods." She had to applaud Raphael for his calm. She could however not stay in the office, she walked out and sunk to the ground against a wall as she wiped the sweat from her brow. It felt slightly weird that she couldn't see her own hands, but she supposed it was a good sign.

She listened as Raphael tactically ended the conversation and stood up when the two men entered the hallway. Actually this was a scary side of Raphael, the one which made that he'd easily fit in with the sophisticated evil guys. The ones who had more tricks on their sleeve than your average tug could ever dream of.

Bulstrode didn't follow them further than the door to the Spirit Division and waved Raphael off from there. Raphael didn't hesitate but quickly made his way towards the elevator. He didn't seem to have a problem with waiting to tell Rebecca what had happened in the office, neither did he seem to be in a hurry to learn what had happened when she was exploring the Division.

Without drawing any attention they hurried out the Ministry of Magic and back to their own non-magical world. Rebecca knew that both she and Raphael preferred it in the muggle-world and they both had similar reasons. Magic had brought them nothing but loss. As soon as they reached the car Raphael pulled the robes over his head and tossed them with a disgusted sound into the trunk. Underneath he was wearing his usual outfit and he shook his arms to let them now that they were free from the suffocating robes.

"Rebecca?" he asked as he unlocked the car.

"I'm here", Rebecca whispered from the other side of the car. She was standing next to the passenger-seat, she wasn't willing to risk that someone saw 'nothing' open and close the door. Instead Raphael opened it, then acted confused and closed the door again. He was a good actor.

It wasn't until they started driving that the conversation begun. "How did it go?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"He'll postpone everything until August", Raphael said. "He is not going to sell. They would know that it was his fault."

"We are going to have to steal it, you mean", Rebecca asked.

Raphael nodded and looked her way. "Yes." His eyes narrowed when he didn't see anyone sitting next to him. "How long are you going to be invisible?"

Rebecca shrugged before realizing that that would do Raphael no good. "I don't know. I found the puzzle by the way. It really is a torture chamber." She shuddered.

"Torture master", Raphael scoffed condescending. "And he's proud of it."

Rebecca shuddered again. Yes, proud was exactly what he had been. Could he really find joy in using all those instruments? And why so many different? Wouldn't one do?

"I'm not sure how hard it will be to break in", she said to advert her thoughts. "I heard the spell he used on the first door but I doubt it'll work on the door leading to the torture chamber." Rebecca could however not get the thought of Yugi being tortured on one of those devices out of her head. She didn't feel so good, to tell the truth. She vaguely noticed that her hands were shaking. "The basilisk shouldn't be a problem though. I'm not sure if the window can be broken. I know that it must be magically strengthened at least at regular assaults but perhaps a spell could break it. The spells warding of spirits should not affect regular spells."

"We'll talk more about that with the others. Let's go tell them our findings. Then we can focus on saving the Pharaoh."

* * *

><p>Dean had followed the progress of the three Hogwarts drop-outs and the to Dean mysterious Raphael closely. But actually the only thing they had achieved was to postpone the process. Dean was disappointed although he hadn't expected much more.<p>

Dean had in his turn kept Hermione, Ron and Harry informed. It was however not always equally easy to communicate, mostly since the fifth years where deep into their OWLs. Tracey often teased him about how relaxed it was not having to worry about school, but Dean wasn't jealous. He knew that Tracey herself, unlike Rebecca, liked Hogwarts and magic and everything that went with it and that she would have preferred OWLs over sitting in an apartment planning to free a spirit.

Rebecca's stunt had become somewhat of a legend at the school but the result was that every single student in the school was mad at her. Especially Angelina who had been convinced that Gryffindor otherwise would have won. Rebecca wasn't too bothered by any of it, at least according to Tracey.

It was when they were heading back from their first OWL, Theory of Charms, that Dean heard something new about the fire. Dean and Seamus had accompanied Harry, Ron and Hermione on their way back to the common room when they heard a second year student tell a colorful story about the fire Rebecca had started.

"It's weird that we never hear about the dragon though", Ron said subdued. "That was the most interesting part of it all."

The other four stopped on the spot. "What dragon?" Dean asked and looked around at the other three.

Hermione shook her head while Harry shrugged. "I wasn't there." Seamus held up his hands. "I got out once it started burning man. Everything that has anything to do with pyrotechnic haunts me." Seamus had a point there so Dean had only himself to rely on. Certainly he had been more focused on getting the others away from the stands, but could he really have missed a dragon?

"Ron, are you sure?" he asked doubtful.

"It's the dragon that put out the fire, man. The teachers failed miserably at that."

Naturally Dean took contact with Tracey after that and asked about the dragon. Rebecca confirmed that indeed there had been a dragon. She called him Tyrant Dragon but Dean didn't care much about that. Things were strange.

The OWLs went on and Tracey and her friends where still planning their break-in into the Ministry of Magic. Dean personally thought it was hopeless but he didn't say so.

He kept a low profile constantly and simply watched. He didn't see anything interesting until his Astronomy exam which he finished pretty smoothly before five figures made their way to Hagrid's cabin. He watched in silence and as soon as the exam was done he informed those outside Hogwarts that now both McGonagall and Hagrid were out of play. The answer he received from Tracey was gloomy. They both agreed that Hogwarts now was a hopeless case. Dean silently decided that if nothing was going to be done about Umbridge than he'd finish his OWLs and leave the school for good. Perhaps he could apply for a different school, Durmstrang even if it was required.

Being on edge as Dean was he was perfectly observant. When Harry fell of his chair screaming during their final exam Dean was already prepared. He stuck close to Ron and Hermione, just out of their sight, knowing Harry wouldn't approach his friends in the company of strangers.

His patience was rewarded as he eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Voldemort's got Sirius."

Dean had no idea whatsoever who Sirius was, the first person which came to his mind was Sirius Black, but it seemed unlikely Harry would be so upset about that. Sirius Black was after all a wanted serial killer. Ron and Hermione however did know who Harry was talking about.

"What?!"

"How d'you …"

"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."

"But ... but where? How?" Hermione asked, her face white.

"I dunno how," said Harry. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls and they're at the end of row ninety-seven … he's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there … he's torturing him … says he'll end by killing him!"

Harry found his voice was shaking, as were his knees. He moved over to a desk and sat down on it, trying to master himself.

"How're we going to get there?" he asked them.

There was a moment's silence. Then Ron asked, "Get there?"

"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" Harry said loudly.

"But ... Harry …" Ron said weakly.

"What? _What_?" Harry asked all out of patience. He could not understand why they were both gaping at him as though he was asking them something unreasonable.

"Harry", said Hermione in a rather frightened voice, "er … how … how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realizing he was there?"

"How do I know?" Harry bellowed. "The question is how we're going to get in there!"

"But … Harry, think about this", Hermione said, taking a step towards him, "its five o'clock in the afternoon, the Ministry of Magic must be full of workers, how would Voldemort and Sirius have gotten in without being seen? Harry, they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world, you think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?"

It was Sirius Black they were talking about. He found that hard to comprehend at first, but then he recalled the way they wrote in The Daily Prophet about the Pharaoh, a Pharaoh who wasn't a foul creature at all, a Pharaoh known publicly as a ravenous murderer. Actually just like Sirius Black. Hermione convinced Harry to go check if his dream was more than a dream first. When they were captured by Umbridge together with Luna, Ginny and Neville Dean tried to sneak away so he wouldn't get directly involved. He was however stopped by an annoyed Ravenclaw. "What the hell is going on?"

"Peter!" Dean called out surprised. The Ravenclaw had been down ever since he and Rebecca had their little fight. Dean had learned from Luna that it had been Peter who had turned Rebecca in to Umbridge. Dean had been shocked at that news to say the least, Peter and Rebecca had certainly drifted apart since Rebecca started acting out on the school, but to turn her in … No, Dean didn't get it.

"Fred, George and Tracey left, Rebecca left, that bunch is about to get expelled and you are sneaking around here. Will it just be me who is going to be left here?" he asked clearly pissed.

Dean stood up and dragged Peter behind him into an empty classroom before anyone from the Inquisitorial Squad could catch them. "I'm going to the Ministry of Magic with that bunch. Rebecca and Tracey will be there, possibly Professor Muto too."

"Are all of you going to free the spirit?" Peter asked incredulous.

Dean shook his head. "No, they are going there for a different reason. They are going to safe Sirius Black from Voldemort. Tracey, Rebecca and I are going to safe the spirit. That bunch is the perfect distraction. The Ministry won't know what to expect where."

Peter was silent for a full minute. "What the hell?!" he yelled when it dawned on him. "Sirius Black? The serial killer?"

"Not if you ask Harry", Dean hissed, urging Peter to speak with a more subdued voice. "Professor Muto's spirit has been put down as a murderer too, he is not. Why wouldn't they lie about Sirius Black?"

Peter shook his head. "It's still insane!"

Dean decided he couldn't do much more. "Go to dinner Peter. I'm going to contact Rebecca and Tracey. I assume you won't turn me in the way you turned Rebecca in."

Peter's eyes burned. Dean backed away involuntary at that gaze. "I turned her in so no students would come to harm. She could have killed the Quidditch players. She didn't care, I talked with her just before the game. Besides, I'm not going anywhere. I'm coming too."

"What?" Dean asked dumbfounded.

"I have no idea who that spirit is. But Rebecca clearly cared for him, that's enough for me. I'll help her get him back."

Then they heard the sound of a fight coming from Umbridge's office. Peter and Dean rushed out the empty classroom towards Umbridge's office. They stopped dead in the door opening as they saw a miniature battlefield. Peter stunned Millicent Bulstrode who was the last one of the Inquisitorial Squad who was still standing. Malfoy ran passed them, his hands covering his face, Dean stepped aside for him.

"There they go", Luna said and pointed at Harry, Hermione and Umbridge who were heading towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Let's follow", Ron said enthusiastically.

However when the four turned to leave the office they saw Peter and Dean standing there, their arms crossed. "It's not …"

"What we think?" Peter suggested with a wry smile.

Dean's smile was more honest. "Hey, if you guys are going to save an infamous serial killer then I'm in." He turned around and walked towards the Entrance Hall without waiting for any of the others. On his way there he conjured the book Rebecca had given him. He wrote quickly, before the other could catch up with him. _Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Peter and I are heading for the Ministry now. Harry too has someone to save tonight. A good source is telling us that the Ministry is easier accessible than it has been for years and ever will be when tonight is over. _

* * *

><p>Boy, I spend a warm summers day looking up torture devices. Darn, people are inventive, it's too bad most of them were too modern to mention. That or they were directly lethal and thus a no-no for the Ministry. Like the Judas Chair, ush.<p>

The chapter with the currently most reviews is (surprise) chapter 12 with 33 reviews. Can we beat that? Can we? Can we? Of course we can. Give it a shot! ;)  
>If that was still necessary: Please Review.<p>

(Oh, you all know what comes next)


	32. In The Ministry of Magic

I like being a Beta, I had my first Beta request a while ago. A YGO/HP crossover called Something of Yourself. I recommend it, it's a really good fic, although I believe only a selected few will agree with me. Betaing really is fun, but I still don't like looking for a Beta since they tend to ignore me. See You When It Rains didn't have a Beta since no one replied … boohoo.

I suggest you conjure your copy of the Order of the Phoenix if it's been a while since you read it. Enjoy

* * *

><p>Tracey, Rebecca and Yugi had hidden themselves close to the telephone box. They were all dressed in dark clothes, muggle clothes, since those were easiest to move in. Tracey had pointed out that it could cause them trouble if they were seen in muggle-clothing but eventually they had decided to take the risk. For a moment Yugi had considered taking his Duel Disk but had then thought about its size and weight and had refrained from it.<p>

Raphael hadn't come along for the trip, he had seemed distracted when they had received the message from Dean and they had told him that Rebecca knew where to find the torture chamber where the puzzle was currently residing. He had told them he had something else to do and had wished them luck. Something had been extremely off about his behavior, it had not been Raphael-like behavior. Then he had left after giving Rebecca a warm hug, the same way he had hugged his dead siblings when he had seen them and had given both Yugi and Tracey a hand. It had felt like a goodbye.

It was Rebecca's and Tracey's gawk that made Yugi look at the sky. He recognized the Thestrals at once and he quickly told Tracey and Rebecca that they should not trust their eyes and that eight people riding air was not the accurate picture.

It was easy to tell which of the eight could and could not see the bat-like horses they were riding. When Ron basically fell from his Thestral Rebecca started to chuckle quietly as she, Tracey and Yugi came out from their hiding spot. Dean slid from his Thestral slightly more graceful than Ron and Tracey ran forward to meet him. He gave her a quick kiss as the rest too hit the pavement.

Peter gave Rebecca a shy wave but to Peter's disappointment Rebecca didn't react. Yugi frowned at the exchange of no words and a lot of body language as Rebecca resolutely turned away from her fellow Ravenclaw.

"Where do we go from here, then?" Luna asked Harry as if what they were doing was nothing more than a field-trip.

Harry looked at the telephone box and realized that there was no possibility that all of them would fit at once. Rebecca saw it too.

"We split up, Harry you go first to save whoever it is you got save. Just tell us where you are going so we can join you once we're done", Rebecca said.

"Department of Mysteries", Harry said and urged them to get into the telephone box. From everyone who had come with the Thestrals only Dean and Peter stayed behind. The five of them should be capable of breaking into the Spirit Division.

As soon as Harry and co had left a new telephone box appeared and the five of them stepped into it quickly. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Rebecca Hawkins, Yugi Muto, Dean Thomas, Tracey Davis and Peter Lepard. We're here to … visit the Spirit Division", Rebecca said, twisting the truth slightly.

"Thank you", said the voice, a cool female voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes." They all took their badges but Yugi just threw his to the ground. Rebecca understood his action but she fastened the badge, so did the rest.

"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

Yugi glared at the machine in a way which scared those in the Telephone box far more than it scared the target of the glare. Yugi did not care and silenced the voice in his head which told him what Atem's reaction would have been to that. The Atrium was deserted, with exception for the Hogwarts students who just stepped into the elevator and pushed the button down.

"It should be crowded here", Dean said as he with wide-eyes looked around. No sound was present but the pouring from the fountain and their footsteps.

"I don't like this", Peter whispered.

Yugi agreed with the Ravenclaw. The Ministry of Magic was eery silent, but at the moment he chose not to care. "Come on", he said. As long as they were alone they could just as well make use of it. "Rebecca, where to go?"

Rebecca pointed at the elevators. "The fourth floor." She started running almost simultaneously as Yugi and the other three followed swiftly. Yugi pushed the button leading to the accurate floor before the last one of them even had entered the elevator. He was nervous and he was shaking. He wished the elevator could move faster and was holding his hands tightly together, weren't they there yet?

"Calm down", Rebecca hissed in Japanese. "The Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures seems to be abandoned at normal days as well." Then she switched to English. "Dean, why are the others here?"

"To safe the infamous serial killer Sirius Black from You-Know-Who", Dean said, also sounding nervous.

"What?!" Tracey called out shocked. "Sirius Black?"

"Harry reacted almost as strong on finding out You-Know-W … Voldemort had Sirius as Professor Muto or at least Rebecca did on the Spirit being taken. He clearly cares for that man", Dean said and looked at Tracey. "We've been lied to before."

"Than that's one hell of a big lie", Tracey sighed but did not question it further. "I think we can almost assume that those painted black by the Daily Prophet are those we can rely on most."

"Then I was right", Rebecca said calmly, thinking back at when she had confronted Ginny about Sirius Black. "If Voldemort has Sirius and Sirius is here than that means Voldemort is in the same building as we currently are in or at least a lot of Death Eaters." Yugi hissed furiously and Peter looked confused but Rebecca ignored her childhood friend. "If Voldemort and his followers are here they will have ensured that the entire building is empty. They will not want to be interrupted regardless of what they are here for. For the moment their presence works in our advantage and I think we have enough time to pull this thing off."

Yugi looked at Rebecca with a sour expression. Her reasoning was cold since the circumstances could easily get the others and not only Sirius Black killed, but it was also accurate. No one expected an intrusion into the Spirit Division now.

The elevator came to a halt and Rebecca shot out first, her wand drawn. She checked her surrounding but like she had foreseen, the Department was empty. "This way". she said and ran straight for the hallway. She stopped in front of the door stating Spirit Division. "We'll leave tracks", she warned the others.

Yugi looked uncharacteristically smug. "If I get the puzzle back everyone will understand that someone has been here anyway. I don't think we need to worry about leaving traces."

"If", Rebecca snorted. She lifted her wand and spoke the incantation she had branded in her memory. The door blasted open and the locks broke with a loud crack. Clearly she had not done it properly, but she didn't care, the door was open.

The five of them hurried further in the now dark Division and they all were surprised at how easy it had been until this point to get into the Spirit Division. "It's the door at the end", she said but before she could give additional information a loud screeching sound was heard. Yugi could have sworn it came from inside his head. He fell to his knees under the horrible sound and then caught sight of the door to his left. It had locks too, and they were glowing in a color Yugi had never seen before but which he would call a combination between yellow and brown. He crawled towards Rebecca who had fallen to her knees herself under the sound. Yugi poked her in the side and when he had her attention he pointed at the door.

Rebecca went pale and she pointed at the sign. _Inferi_. Yugi had absolutely no idea what an Inferi was but judging from Rebecca's reaction he didn't want to know either. As the door creaked open the sound inside Yugi's head faded and disappeared.

"What's an Inferi?" he asked Rebecca nervously.

"An Inferius", she corrected him, "is a dead body raised from the dead without the possibility to think for themselves or have a will of their own. They just serve as puppets for those who create them. They are extremely dark creatures."

She had barely finished when an entire heap of bodies tumbled through the door. Slowly they crawled to their feet and walked towards them, those who had not found the will to stand up just crawled towards them in a way which would fit a Japanese horror movie just fine.

This was not something any of them had counted on. "What the hell!" Dean called out as the Inferi came closer.

"They must be guarding this place when no one else is around. We must have triggered some sort of alarm", Peter whispered and backed up slowly.

"These are forbidden creatures, the Ministry should have destroyed them, not have kept them as guards!" Tracey called out, sounding affronted as she too backed away slowly. Rebecca agreed with Tracey and thought about the door which had stated _Room of Destroyed Spirits_.

Yugi did however not think about anything which had to do with the obscure business the Ministry seemed to be involved with. Instead he was highly aware of the fact that he was the only one unable to defend himself in any way against those macabre creatures which he knew nothing about.

The Inferi had noticed that they were trying to retreat and without warning half a dozen of them broke free from the rest and raced past them with unexpected velocity. They effectively blocked the way out and Yugi realized that they were now surrounded and at the mercy of something that to him were simply zombies. Though he supposed that just like ghosts and spirits were different, zombies and Inferi were probably different too. He looked over the Inferi at the heavily blocked door, the knowledge that the puzzle, and thus Atem, was at the other side made his heart ache. He would not fall this close to his goal.

"What can one do against Inferi?" he asked as he turned around to look for a weaker spot among the Inferi. There seemed to be little use though, there were thirty of them at least. Besides that, there was no telling how many more of them were inside.

"Light", Peter said. "Fire preferably." He glanced at Rebecca for understandable reasons.

"I am not familiar with pyrotechnical incantations!" she replied pissed, "I used potions."

"_I_ have a certain experience with them though", Dean told the others who replied by gawking at him. He shrugged. "After having Seamus Finnigan as my best friend for five years one learns a lot about pyrotechnics."

Yugi didn't get the connection and neither did Rebecca, but Tracey and Peter nodded understandingly. Then something shot Yugi to mind. "Rebecca, fire!" Rebecca turned to look at him, not understanding. "Dragons! Luster Dragon!"

Understanding dawned on Rebecca as she thought about her Patronus.

"_Incendio_", Dean muttered and pointed his wand at the nearest Inferius.

The Inferi had been pretty calm until that moment but when one of them was incinerated they became furious. They all simultaneously threw themselves over the frightened but ready humans. Dean kept throwing the spell as often as he could and Tracey did her best to do the same. She was however not as successful as Dean since it was her first time using it. She soon gave up and went over to a different spell. "_Lumos Solem_", she said and pointed her wand at a random Inferius. The beam of light was not as effective as Dean's flames, but they were light and they were warm which made that they could ward the Inferi of although not destroy them.

Peter was thinking more forward and was lightening the torches with Bluebell Flames, making the entire surrounding more uncomfortable for the dark beings attacking them. Yugi was doing his very best to simply stay alive, the Inferi were a lot stronger than they appeared. Tracey who had noticed how helpless Yugi was in the situation had teamed up with him and was warding the Inferi off as Dean did his best to destroy them one by one. They just seemed to keep coming and Yugi knew they wouldn't hold this up much longer.

Rebecca had closed her eyes and was doing her very best to find a happy memory. She realized that that had become harder and harder these past months. Where the hell was she supposed to find a happy memory? Then she realized that this was her happy memory, she was fighting a battle, but for once she was not fighting it alone. She had fought nearly all her battles alone, but this once she wasn't. "_Expecto Patronum_", she yelled and wonder over wonder the memory of being attacked by Inferi brought forward a corporeal Patronus. A silvery blue version of Luster Dragon Nr. 2 appeared and he did not seem happy. "Back off!" Rebecca yelled as Luster Dragon Nr. 2 took a deep breath and incinerated all the Inferi at once with the fire from his mouth. Dean took care of the few left behind them.

Peter and Tracey were just looking astounded at Rebecca's unusual Patronus. "Luster Dragon?" Tracey asked skeptical.

"Number two", Rebecca added sourly, not appreciating the attention. She opened the bright red card-holder hanging across her shoulder and quickly searched her deck. She handed Tracey the card in question.

"A Shadow Creature?" Tracey asked confused.

Yugi shook his head. "No, with the puzzle smashed the Shadows have gone into a sort of slumber. They can't aid the Shadow Creatures, there aren't even enough active shadows for the Beasts to act on their own. They must be just as drowsy as the Shadows momentarily are. Luster Dragon Nr. 2 is from the Dominion of the Beasts."

"Oh", was all Tracey said, who already knew about the Dominion. Dean didn't react either, he had no idea what the Dominion of the Beasts was, but he got the general point.

"What?" Peter at the other hand didn't understand anything whatsoever. "Am I the only one who wonders what they are talking about?"

Dean looked at him and smirked. "Sorry, mate, looks like it. You should have done your homework."

"I'm here, ain't I?" he spat.

"Come on", Rebecca said annoyed, "Let's move on!" The paced the remainder of the short distance to the final door in the hallway quickly. Yugi warily looked at the door stating: _Room of Destroyed Spirits_.

"Do you think …" he started but Rebecca interrupted him before he even could finish his sentence. "No!"

When they reached the door leading to the puzzle Yugi's heart just wanted to pull him through it. _Hang on, Aibou._

"Well, here goes nothing", Rebecca said as she lifted her wand. The others backed away slightly. Rebecca spoke the same incantation as she had on the previous door she had opened. The door didn't even bulge. She sighed deeply, but didn't give up hope yet. She repeated herself, more forcefully, reminding herself that she sucked at spells and that hers always were somewhat weak.

"I'll help", Peter said and he too pointed his wand at the door.

"Me too", Tracey and Dean said simultaneously. The four of them lifted their wands and spoke the incantation in perfect unison.

The door still didn't react.

"Dammit!" Rebecca called out furiously and kicked the door, hurting her foott more than she would ever admit. Yugi however didn't react at all, he had that same familiar feeling he had when the Inferi had attacked them, that he tripped just before the finish-line.

Rebecca had however not tripped yet and opened a door to the right. From the room someone started screaming. "Hello, Minnie", Rebecca said as she entered the dark room, completely ignoring the screaming. "Is that window breakable?"

"Who are you?" a high-pitched voice asked and by the voice alone Yugi could tell that it was a house-elf speaking.

"Does it matter?" Rebecca asked as the rest entered the room too.

"Rebecca, be nice", Dean said quietly. Then he turned to the house-elves. "You needn't fear us. We won't harm you. We just have to save someone we care for."

Yugi did not listen to the exchange that followed. He was far too captivated by the sight that met him at the other side of the glass. He had become ghostly pale and was all out of words, slowly shaking his head in disbelieve. Rebecca came to stand next to him. "I'm glad you and … the Pharaoh were so easily separated."

"I see", was all Yugi could bring himself to say.

"Let's put an end to it", Tracey said with an uncharacteristically harsh tone in her voice. "The Reductor Curse should do, don't you think?"

"Symbolic", Yugi whispered.

Tracey looked at the Professor and nodded. "He saved me _from_ it, I'm going to save him _with_ it."

The four of them once again pointed their wands at the same target, the window, and in perfect unison screamed: "_Reducto_!"

The window blasted to pieces as they all ignored the house-elves protests. Yugi waited for the glass to fall and then unexpectedly smoothly jumped into the torture chamber. He chose to ignore how obvious it was that the instruments in it had been used, instead he hurried towards the puzzle which seemed to be gathered on the floor, the top piece wasn't even separated from it's chain. He quickly scanned the floor to see if any pieces had come astray. When he did not see any he carefully lifted the largest piece, the one which made out the front, the one which Jonouchi had once stolen. Almost nine years ago now, nine years, it was hard to comprehend.

Yugi went down on his knees and raised his hands to his neck to remove the little red bag and put the pieces in it. But before he could take it off he changed his mind. "I can solve it", he said. "Right here and now."

"You can?" Rebecca asked incredulous. "It took you eight years the last time!"

"No, it took me five minutes. In a burning building", Yugi replied, unaware about the fact that this was news to Rebecca.

"What? When?" she cried out disbelieving.

"Otogi Ryuuta's grandfather pinned it to a table, then smashed it and accidentally set the building on fire. I couldn't get the puzzle loose so instead I solved it. Jonouchi got me out of there, with the puzzle. He later told me he tried to get me out just like that since he didn't think he'd have time to get it loose but that I wouldn't let go of the puzzle even while I was unconscious. He used a lever to get the puzzle loose. I don't even remember it, all I remember was that I wished to see him again one last time."

The three less inserted into the bond between Yugi and Atem just gawked at their teacher's back.

"When?" Rebecca asked. "The Otogi I knew?"

"Just after you left after our first meeting. Just a couple of days later. Yes, the Otogi you knew. His grandfather and mine had a history and all Otogi's grandfather wanted was revenge. It almost resulted in the death of him, Jonouchi and me."

"Hurry", was all Rebecca said, wishing she could have asked Jonouchi about it.

Yugi was her grateful and started to put the pieces together. He was completely focused on Atem and eventually ended in the same sort of trance he had been in while the game-shop had been burning. The pieces just fitted together by themselves. In the background he heard Rebecca explain everything to Peter with the help of Dean and Tracey.

Ten minutes later Yugi stood up. He had the puzzle in one hand and the front piece in the other. "I'm done", he said, feeling as if he had just awoken from a long slumber. He turned around to face the other three.

"Finish it", Rebecca said encouragingly and smiled at Yugi. At least one of the matters at hand was solved.

"No, wait", Tracey called out just before Yugi could put the final piece in the puzzle. Yugi frowned and put the chain over his head, while still holding on to the final piece. He watched confused as Tracey herself jumped into the torture chamber. She raised her hand and pointed at the Rack. "Take cover", she told Yugi. Yugi quickly joined the rest in the dark room. "_Reducto, Reducto, Reducto, Reducto_!" Tracey yelled repeatedly and pointed at each and every one of the torture instruments. When she was done she turned around and left the torture chamber. She seemed pretty pleased with herself. "Darn, that felt good", she said with a broad smile.

Dean laughed out loud and Yugi too smiled, still eagerly holding the final piece.

"Now, after all I've heard about him I'd like to meet him too", Tracey told Yugi with a wink and Yugi realized that he had ceased to be a teacher some time ago.

Yugi shoved aside his final fears, that perhaps Atem had forgotten everything again or that he would be as ruthless again as he had been at first.

Rebecca saw his doubt and understood. "He'll be fine", she said encouragingly.

Yugi looked at her and then nodded as he slowly put the final piece back where it belonged. It was just like the first time he solved the puzzle. He saw a bright golden light and before he knew it he was in his soul-room, but this time he knew where he was and he wasn't knocked out like he had been the first time.

/_Atem?_/ he asked eagerly as he appeared in spirit form next to his best friend.

"Yugi", Atem said out loud, his surprise and confusion clear in his voice.

/_You're back!_/ Yugi cheered, feeling like a high school student again. Atem turned his head to look at his lighter who was glowing with joy and happiness. /_I've missed you!_/ Yugi called out.

/_I've missed you too, Aibou/ _Atem replied with a completely satisfied smile. /_How long have I been gone?_/

/_Over a month_/ Yugi replied subdued.

/_Just a month?_/ Atem didn't believe it. It had felt like much longer, much longer. Yugi didn't reply so instead Atem focused on the people in front of him, Dean, Tracey, Peter, Rebecca and two unfamiliar house-elves. He looked around him but did not recognize the place. "Where are we?"

"The Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures on the fourth floor of the Ministry of Magic in the Spirit Division", Rebecca said, she was doing her best to keep a broad smile back, but she couldn't. "I'm glad to have you back!" she called out eventually and hugged him before he could react.

Atem, who still hadn't gotten use to the hugging thing, didn't react at all on Rebecca's hug. He smiled however as he compared this reaction on his return with the first one. Then he looked at the other three. "Thank you", he said with the dignity of the ancient king he was.

Tracey was the first one to get over the shock after what they had just witnessed. She shook her head. "No, don't. The reason I did this was to thank you."

Atem made a little nod as a gesture of acceptance of her gratitude. Yugi smiled, Atem really would never change.

"I suppose you figured out the truth", he said and looked at Dean.

Dean nodded. "It was the last piece of the puzzle. You're the Pharaoh." Atem nodded. "Can we know your name? Neither Professor Muto nor Rebecca has told us, they avoid it."

"My name it Atem", he said with a smile. /_Why didn't you tell?_/

/_It's your name_/ Yugi replied simply.

"Tell me what happened after I disappeared", Atem demanded, not unfriednly and sat down cross-legged.

"Well, after they captured you Dumbledore was arrested. At least they tried, he fled the school", Rebecca said. "Now Umbridge is Headmistress." Atem made a displeased sound. "Hogwarts has turned into a horrible place."

Peter took over. "Fred and George Weasley teamed up with Rebecca and started causing havoc in the school. When Umbridge lost all patience with them Fred and George decided to leave and Tracey took a ride with them out of the castle."

Atem looked at Tracey and the werewolf shrugged. "I'm a werewolf. Umbridge would have had me expelled some time soon anyway."

"Tracey was the one with the information required to get you out. She knows almost everything when it comes to the methods they use to destroy a spirit. She also had the information needed to postpone your destruction long enough so we could save you", Rebecca went on. "Don't ask her how, she won't answer. Tracey taught Raphael everything she knows about the Wizarding World so he could fit in with the rest of the wizards."

"Meanwhile Rebecca teamed up with Peeves and created even worse havoc at the school. She burned down the Quidditch pitch and was expelled", Peter said.

"At the same time as Yugi", Rebecca added. "The Daily Prophet naturally wrote an article concerning you, which was not very close to the truth and Umbridge called you a malevolent spirit of unmatched evil. Naturally parents wanted Yugi out of the school and under the lead of Lucius Malfoy they got their will through."

Atem sighed. "Of course it was Lucius Malfoy. I suppose Yugi and I will get into trouble when they realize I'm free."

"So will I be", Rebecca confirmed. "But I know that I can take it."

/_We'll pull through_/ Yugi said reassuringly. Atem just nodded in reply, reply to the both of them.

"And Raphael?" he asked.

"Didn't come", Rebecca said. "He didn't want to. He didn't say why though, he seemed upset. Actually, it's for the better. We're not the only ones in the Ministry at the moment. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville are having their own rescue operation."

"Who?" Atem asked curious.

"Sirius Black", Rebecca answered calmly. "Harry had a vision that Voldemort was holding him here and decided to go and rescue him. They were the perfect distraction."

"Sirius Black huh, that means you were right. There is always more than meets the eye." Atem stood up. "If Voldemort is here they are going to need our help. You can leave, of course, but I'm going to find them."

"They are in the Department of Mysteries", Rebecca said. "I know I'm coming." For a moment she thought Atem was going to protest, but he didn't.

"So am I", said Tracey resolutely.

"You told your parents you weren't in danger", Rebecca said skeptically.

"I told them I wasn't at the moment, and back then that wasn't a lie", Tracey replied unimpressed.

"Then I'm coming too. My friends are down there fighting I don't know what, I'm not going to let them do it alone", Dean said equally resolute as Tracey.

Peter just nodded and he followed Atem's example as he too stood up.

"I hope you realize that this is Voldemort we are talking about", Atem warned them with low voice. He silently hoped that they wouldn't back out though, he was having a light feeling of deja-vu. This reminded him somewhat of Death-T, they had all gone together, even though it could have meant their death.

Rebecca smiled and shook her head. "You can't make us back out."

Atem smiled. "Good. Let's go then."

Rebecca took the lead. Atem didn't say anything as he saw the burned corpses of the Inferi who were still lying in the hallway. He felt Yugi shudder from inside his soul room at the thought of them.

Peter felt overwhelmed. There where he walked alone at the rear of the little assembly he could not comprehend the things that had happened that day, neither could he comprehend the things that were about to happen. He was going to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters and he had just helped to save the Spirit which to the rest of the Wizarding world was known as a ruthless murderer. He himself didn't see much of a ruthless murderer in the being who had taken control of Professor Muto's body.

"Are you holding up alright, Peter?" Tracey asked concerned.

"I'm fine, I just don't know what to believe anymore", Peter replied and put his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Yugi says he understands you completely and that he empathizes", Atem said with a soft chuckle.

"Then your relation with Yugi isn't the way the Daily Prophet described it?" Peter asked, because that was his major fear.

"I don't know what the Daily Prophet said", Atem stated and put his hands in the pockets of his leather pants. "But I can tell you this. It's Yugi's life, I'm highly aware of that. I only step in when things get dangerous."

Peter was satisfied with that answer and decided against asking any more as they stepped into the elevator and headed for the Department of Mysteries. It took them all by all five seconds to realize. "This place is a maze", Dean said as he shut the first door behind him as they looked around at the eleven other doors.

"I suggest we should try the marked doors", Rebecca said logically and took a step forward when the doors suddenly started moving at greater speed than she held for possible.

They waited in awe for the doors to came to a halt. Atem was relieved to note that both doors were still marked. He walked to the one that was nearest by and put his hand on it, since he could find no doorknob. He pulled his hand back at once, having burned it on the door. When he looked at it his hand wasn't even singed, although he could have sworn the door was glowing hot.

"It won't open", he said.

"Let's just try the other one", Tracey suggested and carefully put her hand on the next one. The door opened obediently under her touch. She was met by the sight of a running Harry, tailed by all the Death Eaters in the room, Ron fighting a substance which Tracey assumed were brains considering the rest of the room, Ginny, Luna and Hermione were laying unconscious spread through the room. The only one addressable was Neville, who had blood streaming from his nose, it was clearly broken.

"Neville!" Tracey called out. She entered the room hastily followed by the rest. Tracey went to check with Ginny, Dean and Peter helped Ron to fight the brains and tore at it as much as they could but when it proved that pulling at it wasn't helpful Rebecca sprinted towards them and conjured a knife. Atem decided that he should not worry about that. She quickly slashed the brain into bits so that Ron could breath again.

Atem himself went to check on Hermione who was laying unconscious on the floor. He could not find anything wrong with her but he had to check her pulse to make sure she was alive. When he was sure she was he left her to check on Luna who was alive too. Neville just stood there, stunned at their sudden entrance.

"Luna and Hermione are still alive", Atem told the others. "I don't know what's wrong with them."

"Ginny is alive too", Tracey said. "Her ankle seems to be broken though."

Peter and Rebecca stayed with Ron to make sure he didn't do anything stupid when it became apparent he wasn't in his right mind. "What happened to him?" Peter asked Neville.

Neville shook his head. "I don'b know. I was wib Harry and Hermione when ib habbened."

Atem met Rebecca's gaze. Rebecca nodded slightly. "Can we?"

He nodded. "Yes. I know how to do it."

"All of them?" she asked again, doubtful.

"It's worth a try", Atem replied

"Whab are you balking aboub?" Neville wondered distrustfully as his gaze wandered to the puzzle around the Pharaoh's neck. "Are you be sbirit of the buzzle?"

The ancient being nodded. "I can cure the people in this room. At least I think I can, including you, if you let me."

Neville frowned distrustful.

"You can trust him, Neville", Dean said. "It's not like we have a choice now anyway."

"Bine", Neville muttered. "Hurry."

Atem walked towards Neville, since he was the only one who was able to protest against his actions, it would be best to cure him first. "Don't be afraid. I have full control over this", Atem said, hoping that sounded reassuring. He closed his eyes and focused on his power, the power of the Millennium item around his neck. The Eye of Horus started glowing brightly on his forehead. Neville inhaled sharply through his mouth and took a step back. The rest had similar reactions, even Rebecca who had never seen it before. "Take it easy", Atem said, "it means it's working. Mystical Elf, please join us."

From nowhere a woman with blue skin and long blonde hair appeared. Her hands were folded and her eyes closed as if in prayer. She was wearing a long green dress and had a white thing on her head which was an odd combination between a crown and a helmet.

She stepped forward until she stood next to Atem and next to her it was very apparent precisely how short he was. That was however not something Atem had ever concerned himself with and not something he noted then either. "Can you heal him?"

She opened her eyes to look at him. She did not speak, just nodded slightly and took another step towards Neville.

"That's one hell of a game", Dean whispered in Tracey's ear. Tracey held his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder, she did not reply.

Peter leaned towards Rebecca. "From the Dominion of the Beasts?"

Rebecca shook her head. "The Eye of Horus indicates that Atem is using Shadow Magic. Mystical Elf is a being of light though, although she is a Shadow Creature, no one needs to worry."

Mystical Elf started to sing in a language which none of the people present could understand. Then she lied her hands over Neville's face and they started glowing. She removed them just a few seconds later. The blood was still there but his nose was obviously not broken anymore.

"Thank you", he said, sounding completely normal again. The elf just closed her eyes again and turned away from him as she on her own account moved towards Ron.

"She was glad to help", Atem assured Neville. "Let's help the rest."

Mystical Elf equally easy cured Ron who seemed to be rather ashamed of his actions afterward. His robes were covered in blood and other liquids which had come from the brain when Rebecca had chopped it into pieces with the sharp hunting knife, but otherwise he was fine. "Hermione!" he called out when he saw her lying on the ground after he returned to his senses.

"She's alive", Atem told him. "She'll be fine." He did not doubt Mystical Elf's abilities to cure her. In addition to that, he was so accommodated to the Shadows that using them didn't even drain his strength. Five thousand year in darkness had proven to be good for something at least, that and his strong soul and mental abilities.

Swiftly Mystical Elf cured Hermione who flew Ron around the neck while the Elf cured Luna and Ginny. Ginny was immensely pleased to be back on her feet again and she thanked the Elf with pure gratitude. "Where's Harry?" she then asked, "and the Death Eaters?"

Neville pointed at the door behind him. They all hurried that way, wands ready. Atem came last, showing Mystical Elf the gratitude she had earned first and then dismissing her.

"You are in no position to bargain, Potter", a voice said, a voice Atem still remembered from the time he had walked into the owner of it in the office of the Daily Prophet. "You see, there are ten of us and only one of you … or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"

"He's not alone", Atem heard Neville shout from the doorway. "He's got me!" Neville was however not even armed since he had given Hermione her wand back.

"Neville, no, go back to Ron!" Harry called out panicked.

"I'm here, mate", Ron said and stepped forward when Neville made place for him. Ron directly made place for the next one.

"He's got me too", Ginny said who gracefully walked forward. Her gaze caught that of the Death Eater which had broken her ankle and she smiled at him challengingly.

"And me", Luna said as if she was simply making her presence known in the classroom. She was closely followed by Hermione who just waved at Dolohov.

"But how?" Dolohov breathed furiously. "It's not possible.

Harry also really wanted to know the answer to that question. He stared wide-eyed at the group assembling at the top of the stairs. Just like the Death Eaters his attention was completely fixed upon the group of students.

"I showed up too somewhere along the way", Dean said, almost sounding bored as he hand in hand with Tracey entered the Veil Room.

The Death Eaters weren't the least pleased with unfamiliar faces entering the room too. Peter and Rebecca followed closely but didn't say anything. The four of them looked just as ready for battle as the rest.

"You're still just kids", Lucius drawled. "You can't begin anything against us."

"I'm not a child", a deep voice said from behind the assembly of students. They parted quickly, Atem's mere presence almost pushing them apart. With his hands in his pockets he slandered forward and down the first two steps. "I haven't been a child for quite some time now."

All the Death Eaters just stared at him in disbelieve. "Who are you?" the only woman asked with condescending tone.

Lucius started to laugh loudly. "He's the muggle teacher at Hogwarts who was banned just a while ago. He's of no danger to us."

"A muggle!" the woman called out highly amused now. "A filthy, stupid muggle! I'll kill him."

Rebecca hissed furiously, but Atem hadn't even looked at the woman. He just jumped down another stone step. "Lucius Malfoy." He spoke the name slowly and with a hatred unmatched by anything anyone present had ever heard before.

"Do I know you?" he asked annoyed at being addressed directly. He clearly had not noticed that the person in front of him wasn't the teacher he had banned from the school, but the spirit he had so many reasons to fear.

"We've met before", Atem said with a smirk. "Not so long ago even, beginning of term actually. But that meeting doesn't mean anything really."

"You where with my house-elf in the office of the Daily Prophet", Lucius stated venomously.

Atem chuckled dangerously. "Very good. Although that's not the encounter I want you to remember. Had it not been for you I would not have been here today, I would not even have been on this earth. You were my ticket into this corrupted world."

"What is he talking about?" one of the Death Eaters behind Lucius asked confused.

"Shut up, Macnair, how should I know? I'm sure he'll enlighten me." Lucius pointed his wand at the slim figure in the dark clothing.

"You really should remember, Lucius, I know I do. It's a good thing I can't dream."

"The Spirit! You should have been destroyed!" Lucius called out angrily.

Atem clapped his hands slowly. "Very good. That's one step on the way. Not all of them came for Sirius, some came for me. I have good friends, although not that many as I once had anymore. You made sure of that. Don't you remember yet?" Lucius gaze remained blank. "Four years ago, a tomb in Egypt, a gathering of people, mostly teenagers. You tried to kill me first, unfortunately I was already dead so you couldn't. Instead you killed nearly every other person there. Some survived though, you were careless, you were afraid. You feared my powers, the powers which lured you there in the first place, the power you yearned to destroy. Lucius Malfoy, how stupid you where, had you not interfered Yugi would have lived happily ever after with his friends and I and my powers would have been no more."

Understanding dawned upon the Death Eater and he took a step back. "No. It can't be!"

"I too, but mostly Yugi, have been trying to hunt you down and make you pay for what you did." Atem shrugged. "We were bound to stumble into this world sooner or later." The ancient Pharaoh smiled and shook his head. "You've destroyed too much already, I won't allow you to do the same to these children."

"We'll see about that!" Lucius called out enraged. He and all the other Death Eaters lifted their wands simultaneously. "Avada Kadavra!" they shouted in perfect unison and green jets of light shot towards them. Atem couldn't help but notice that not a single one of the green jets were aimed at him.

The Eye of Horus appeared again and several of the Death Eaters and Harry gasped in fear. A large crystal-like wall appeared in front of Atem and the students, the Death Eaters could see their own reflections in it. "Mirror Wall!" Rebecca called out with delight.

Atem just smiled at her, ignoring the irritating feeling growing inside him. "It won't kill them. The strength of their attacks are reduced to half before it reflects back, you know that. Be prepared."

Peter just stared at the wall but when Atem told them to be prepared he shook his head to gather his thoughts and lifted his wand. So did the rest. The green jets rebounded and the Death Eaters ducked to avoid their own spells.

The wall disappeared and a variety of spells were shot from the wands behind him. Harry took his chance and ran, a dull glass orb in his hands. Atem assumed that it was the Prophecy Lucius had been talking about. Two Death Eaters went after him while the rest battled fiercely. It was the woman however to find the most effective way to turn the situation into their advantage.

She grabbed Rebecca when she ran down the stairs and held her wand under her chin. The rest of the Death Eaters followed her lead. It didn't take long until Tracey, Peter, Rebecca, Hermione, Ginny and Neville where standing with a wand against their throat.

Luna, Dean, Ron and Atem ceased their fighting when they realized in what kind of position their friends were. The remaining Death Eaters had their wands raised, pointing them at the four still standing.

/_Atem_/ Yugi whispered afraid.

/_We'll get out of this_/ Atem said calming. /_Don't worry._/

"Potter!" Lucius called out, not taking his eyes of Atem who he was looking at warily, "stop running or your friends will die one by one!" Harry stopped and stood at the top of the stone steps, pretty close to Neville. "And you", Lucius said, clearly addressing Atem, "if you try anything Bellatrix will kill that little friend of yours."

Rebecca struggled fiercely against the woman's hold, but she wasn't able to break free. Atem just glared at Lucius. The elder man turned away from Atem and instead walked towards Harry, reaching for the Prophecy. The inner battle was visible on Harry's face. Atem wished that he could do anything, but he felt Bellatrix mad eyes on him and knew that the Eye of Horus would give him away if he used the Shadows.

Then two more doors burst open and five people which Atem did not know entered. Bellatrix looked away just for a second, but it was enough. He summoned the first monster which came to his mind, which was Mammoth Graveyard, the large clearly dead mammoth charged for Bellatrix and knocked her out of the way, smoothly moving on to the others holding a student. The five newcomers gawked for a second until one pointed at Atem. "Dumbledore was right."

Atem wanted to reflect over those words, but then he felt something which was not supposed to be there. He screamed right out as the feeling changed to horrible pain and he fell to his knees. He had told Leviathan and Dartz to put all the hatred and darkness in mankind's heart on his shoulders, it had hurt, but he had been stronger and had taken it inside him, banishing it. This hurt more.

"Atem!" Rebecca called out and looked alarmed as Mammoth Graveyard made an anguished sound too and fell to the ground.

/_Atem!_/ Yugi shouted even more alarmed than Rebecca. He appeared in spirit form next to the Pharaoh and put his hands on his friend's shoulder. /_What's wrong? Atem!_/

The Eye of Horus faded together with Mammoth Graveyard and the pain did too. "It's the veil. It's a passage to the afterlife. It doesn't want me here, the Shadows even less", he told Rebecca and Yugi.

"You won't be able to use the Shadows?" Rebecca asked slightly worried.

"Not too much. I'll do my best."

"Refrain from using them until it's absolutely necessary then", she suggested and Atem nodded. Her suggestion made sense.

The five newcomers had thrown themselves into the battle fiercely. The woman with the pink hair threw a jet of red light at Lucius but to Atem's disappointment she missed. The newcomers did however not back away a single time but kept bestowing the Death Eaters with spells. The students too fought actively and the Death Eaters were captured between two forces who were both intent on staying alive. Atem didn't see Neville or Harry anywhere, but he assumed they were okay.

Slowly the three groups turned into one-on-one duels. Atem decided to focus on the man he was most interested in among all these enemies, Lucius Malfoy.

"The Prophecy, give me the Prophecy, Potter!" the blonde man snarled in the younger's ears as he jabbed his wand in Harry's ribs. Atem summoned a smaller creature which he hoped wouldn't hurt as much. Kuriboh attacked Lucius by biting him in his arm with the mouth that couldn't be spotted when it was closed. Harry grabbed the opportunity to throw the Prophecy to Neville who caught it and Harry aimed his wand at Malfoy just to lower it as he saw the fur-ball attacking Lucius again and again, biting him wherever he could reach.

It was however not easy for Atem who was on his knees, biting back his pain, his gaze transfixed on the little Shadow Creature which he saw more as a friend than as one of the creatures. When the pain became too much Kuriboh faded with a sound that couldn't be described in any different way than cute. The veil was however not glad with Atem's continued attempts to use the Shadows. It was pulling at him, trying to separate his soul from Yugi's body, but since the puzzle wouldn't move and Atem's soul couldn't be separated from the puzzle by the archway it just hurt him.

Malfoy charged for Harry and the Prophecy again but a man in shabby clothing with a pale face jumped in between them. Atem stood up quickly and Rebecca followed him as he ran towards Lucius.

"Harry, round up the others and GO!" Atem heard the pale man yelling. For a moment their gaze met, Lupin narrowed his eyes as he saw the blood-red eyes of the stranger who he did not know by any other name but the Spirit.

"He's right", Atem told Rebecca. "These men seem to be far more capable of pulling something off here than you are. Get the rest and leave as soon as possible." Harry did his best to drag Neville up the stairs whose legs had been jinxed.

"And you?" Rebecca asked, but did not protest.

In the background he heard a crash, the sound of glass breaking. "I'll come later. Hurry and take care", he said with a smile. Rebecca nodded, uncharacteristically obedient. She gave him another unexpected hug and then grabbed Tracey by her shirt who in her turn called out to Dean.

Just before the gang of students reached the door to the Brain Room a large figure appeared in it. Atem was already calling upon the Shadows when Neville called out: "Dumbledore!"

Atem let go of the Shadows and although Lucius Malfoy was standing right next to him he did not feel like fighting. The only ones still dueling were the Death Eater woman and a man with long black hair who was laughing.

Dumbledore was rounding up the Death Eaters who were taking a run for the exit. Then Lucius turned to Atem, he had a large smile on his face, a smile filled with glee and something hysterically mad over it. "Why didn't you kill me? You could have." Lucius Malfoy sounded ravingly mad and then and there neither Atem nor Yugi could hate him, least of all Yugi. "Nothing makes one feel more powerful than the possibility to kill. Just look at Bellatrix, she enjoys it more than any of us. Just like I enjoyed killing your friends."

Atem stared at him, not sure where this was leading to.

A jet of light went through the room and almost gracefully hit its target. Last time Atem had been in shock, too confused to understand what was going on. He wasn't now, neither of them was now. The three of them watched in silence as the man with the black hair fell backwards, his expression something between surprise and fear.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Can you feel it? Can you feel the hatred claw at your inside?" Lucius Malfoy just stared down on the man he had failed to kill five years ago.

"SIRIUS! SIRIUS!" Atem heard Harry cry out his anguish as the man with the scars in his face and the shabby clothes held Harry to make sure that Harry wouldn't follow. He whispered the truth in Harry's ear. "There is nothing you can do, Harry … nothing, he is gone."

Atem kept staring at Lucius who was staring back. The elder man wasn't quite sure what he saw in the unnatural red eyes of the spirit. He heard the cries of the other students too, not all of them, but some of them. The others didn't understand.

Atem vaguely noted that Bellatrix ran passed for the exit, followed by Harry. She was laughing like a maniac. "She killed Sirius!" Harry shouted, all common sense from his mind. "She killed him! I'll kill her."

"Don't you feel like you want to do that?" Lucius asked, confused as to why Atem was still just looking at him.

"I've wanted to kill you for five years", Atem said, still not breaking eye-contact. "Yugi has wanted the same thing. I've killed people over less, but there is something holding me back."

"You're just too weak!"

Atem ignored the blonde. "I fought long and hard to expel the darkness from my heart and to learn kindness. I also harness all the darkness that once existed in the hearts of mankind, their fears and doubts. If I would give in to the side of me that is nothing but a vengeful Shadow wielder who punished those weak of heart without thinking twice, unwilling to forgive, I don't think I could return."

Yugi shuddered at those words. It had been him who had become just that after the slaughtering in the tomb. He hadn't realized it, but Atem had and Atem had brought him back, together with Hogwarts. Yugi hadn't been able to maintain his hatred when surrounded by those he cared for, Atem however had, Yugi had just never noticed Atem's longing for revenge since his own had surpassed it. Now it was obvious, Atem truly was the darker of the two and the most powerful in spirit.

"I see", Lucius said. "Let me help you." And he smiled.

"What …?" Atem said as his eyes widened with fear.

Atem nor Yugi who was standing next to his friend in spirit form could pay attention to Lucius any longer. They followed the jet of green light which had sprung from his wand with their gaze and there it stuck. They were looking at the figure on the stairs which let out a small, surprised sigh and then collapsed slowly, oh so slowly.

Peter turned around when he heard the soft thud. Tracey did the same thing. "Rebecca?" Peter whispered. Dumbledore who had forgotten about all the remaining Death Eaters quickly strode down the stairs. "There is no point Peter. She's not here anymore." Dumbledore looked up at Atem for a split-second.

Neither Atem nor Yugi had comprehended the situation yet. Hermione fell down on her knees, Ron sat down next to her and put an arm around her. "Sirius", she sobbed. "Rebecca."

"Another loss will be suffered at the hands of the same", Ron said. "Trelawney was right." He looked from the archway to Rebecca and back to the archway.

The blonde Ravenclaw looked odd, the way she was sprawled over the stairs didn't look natural. It was as if someone carelessly had tossed a life-size doll against the stone steps. Her expression was so peaceful that she could have been asleep.

Atem pulled his gaze from Rebecca and instead looked at Malfoy. He did not notice the creatures which appeared next to dead girl. Tyrant Dragon, Luster Dragon Nr. 2, Guardian Angel Joan, Magician of Faith, Ruby Dragon and several others gathered around her. All from the Dominion of the Beasts. They had scared those gathered around Rebecca away. Tyrant Dragon threw Guardian Angel Joan a look and she shrugged slightly. Then they faded one after one. Luster Dragon Nr. 2 was the last one to go. He curled up next to Rebecca and buffed her in the face a couple of times with his snout, then he looked at Peter, Tracey and lastly at Atem and Yugi. Then he too faded.

Lucius just smirked with triumph written over his face. Pure Shadows swirled around Atem, normally this would have frightened Yugi, but Yugi could feel the hatred Lucius had described just as clearly as Atem. The hatred which Atem had fought so long to subdue burst free inside him, the Shadows gladly feeding on it. They thrived best on the negative emotion which was soaring through both Yugi and their wielder.

Lucius didn't understand what he had unleashed on himself, but without thinking twice he ran the same way as Bellatrix and Harry. He had never been so afraid in his life, his triumphant smile had not lasted long. There were Shadows everywhere and he realized that the soul he had tainted was stronger than he had counted on. He had hoped for the Spirit to make a mistake and to get a chance to kill him. But he could see no mistakes, as pure fear had taken over his mind. He saw creatures everywhere, monsters, dragons, fairies and everything else imaginable.

Atem almost panicked as he saw the Shadows dance everywhere as they grew on all the negative emotion inside him, but at the moment he could not concern himself with them. He had to get to Lucius Malfoy and make him pay for what he had done. He didn't even have to look around him, the Shadows guided his way every time he lost Lucius Malfoy from sight.

In the elevator up to the Atrium he had time to think slightly. What was he doing? Not once since the puzzle was solved had he lost such control, not even against Raphael or Haga. Why now? The answer was Yugi. Yugi wanted this just as much as he did and Yugi's light was nowhere to subdue the Shadows that were both feeding on and increasing the hatred. He had no guidance like he had all the other times. Not even Anzu telling him that it was enough, like with Haga. The thought of Anzu only increased his hatred more.

When Atem forced himself out of the elevator he saw Lucius stand next to Bellatrix who was taunting Harry who had hidden himself behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren. "I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!" she called out with a voice that ringed with laughter. She did not seem to be bothered with the Shadows crawling over the floor and up the walls. She had all her focus on Harry.

"I am", Harry shouted.

Atem just looked around, his position was rather vulnerable, but at the moment he was unbeatable and he knew it. Never had he felt like this, never had he lost control like this, never had the Shadows been so strong before. Far out of reach from the veil he could have summoned every Shadow Creature in existence right then and there.

"Aaaaah, did you love him, little baby Potter?" she said with a mock voice. This was reminding Atem of something. Lucius had mocked him in the same way, although more in his style.

Harry flung himself out from behind the fountain and yelled: "_Crucio_!"

Bellatrix hardly reacted on the curse, it had knocked her of her feet, but that was it. She stood up and laughed. "Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled. "You need to mean them, Potter. You need to really want to cause pain, to enjoy it. Righteous anger won't hurt me for long. Look at him …" She pointed at Atem. "He really wants to hurt Malfoy, to rip him to shreds slowly. That's why he can. He wants to cause pain and he'll enjoy it, and that's why it'll work! _Crucio_!" She aimed for Harry who quickly jumped out of the way. "Potter, you cannot win against me!" she cried out.

Atem was torn. He was standing between Lucius and Harry, wanting to go both ways. The good in his heart pulling him towards Harry, the soaring hatred eager to kill Lucius, to cause him as much pain as possible. It was eventually the lack of light in either heart which made that Atem charged for Lucius.

Lucius ran. He had barely gotten a few meters before he tripped over his robes and landed face first on the polished floor. His nose broke with a loud crack and Atem stopped running and went over to a calm stroll. He did not enjoy hearing the sound of Lucius pain, just like he hadn't enjoyed Jiro the Jorogumo's screams as he had burned to death in Burger World, Atem saw it more as a duty than anything else.

He stopped in front of Lucius and went through his knees to look at the man. He grabbed the blonde hair to lift the man's face and cocked his head slightly. Lucius looked much like Neville before Mystical Elf had healed him. In the background he heard the shouted exchange of words between Bellatrix and Harry.

"I don't know how to kill you", Atem murmured as he felt Yugi's anticipation as if it was his own. "I have so many ways. Of course, I could let you live and make sure that you spend the rest of your life in endless misery. I could easily do that too."

Lucius tried to crawl away, the fear visible on his face. Atem did however not let go, he just stared deep into Lucius gray eyes. He threw Bellatrix a look, she did not look insane anymore, she just looked scared. Atem frowned, that picture did not fit it with the circumstances.

"No! It isn't true, you're lying!" she screamed horrified. "Master, I tried, I tried! Do not punish me!"

"Don't waste your breath!" Harry screamed and was visibly in pain. "He can't hear you from here!"

Atem let go of Lucius as the figure he had heard so much about appeared behind Bellatrix, facing Harry. "Can't I, Potter?" The voice was high and cold, unlike anything the Pharaoh had heard before. He was pointing his wand at Harry and didn't seem the least concerned with the duo behind him or the woman crawling at his feet. "So you smashed my Prophecy?"

Bellatrix bestowed him with apologies but Voldemort just ordered her to be quiet. He still took no notice of Atem and Lucius although he impossibly could have missed their presence. Just then Voldemort turned around to face Atem. The ancient king was disappointed to notice that he and Voldemort had the same eyes, the same red eyes of those who did not really live. "Kill him, he deserves it. Listen to your hatred" Then Voldemort looked at the Shadows flowing over the floor, Atem could not see his reaction but he couldn't be pleased.

Then Voldemort turned back to Harry. "I have nothing more to say to you, Potter. You have irked me too often, for too long."

Atem's rage which until that moment had not faded once dimmed slightly at Voldemort's words. Listen to your hatred … no, that was wrong. The Heart of the Cards. Had he not seen the consequences of hatred with Marik and with Otogi's grandpa? Nothing ever good came from vengeance. Had he and others in his surrounding not proven that a thousand times?

Yugi had hooked up on the same line of thought even before Atem had. /_I think we should let him be._/

Atem nodded and stood up, the Shadows were disappointed as they let go of Lucius. They faltered through the entire room and eventually faded but the Eye of Horus on Atem's forehead remained. He knew what was coming and he would prevent it at all costs. "Vengeance isn't right. I think I learned the lesson I had to learn. I think Yugi and I just broke our spiral into the abyss. Lucius Malfoy, I can't forgive you for what you did, not then nor today, but it's not up to me to punish you."

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Voldemort shouted, his wand aimed at Harry. Before the spell could reach the Gryffindor, who didn't even react, Shadows stirred and right in the pathway of the jet of green light Watapon appeared, absorbing the Killing Curse and disappearing again.

Voldemort turned around, fury clear in his gaze. "No one else is going to die today", Atem spoke calm and clear.

"I think I have to agree with Professor Muto, or should I say the Spirit of the Puzzle", a man said and Dumbledore entered.

The Shadows were stirring again. It had been ages since they had been allowed to act upon emotion like they were now. They could feel how tired and filled with sorrow Atem was and they would be pleased to aid him. Just take everyone present in the room so that their wielder could rest. Atem however stood tall and started suppressing them, he had to.

"Take him down to the rest", Dumbledore instructed him and pointed at Lucius. Atem shook his head, no, he was going to stay. No one else was going to die tonight, and he had to stay to make sure that it would be that way. Instead he called upon the Celtic Guardian who lifted Lucius and carried him towards the elevators. Lucius was still conscious but only barely, the Shadows which had played with him waiting for Atem's orders had drained him.

Atem did not interfere in the battle that followed. The two men seemed quite eager on ignoring his presence. He was sitting leaned against one of the fireplaces. Exhaustion had a steady grip over him, but he would not give Yugi his body back. /_I'm not done yet_/

Yugi didn't question him, just went to sit next to him in spirit form. It was when Voldemort suddenly disappeared into nothingness when the water surrounding him dropped with a splash and Bellatrix screamed for her master that Atem jumped up.

"Stay where you are Harry!" Dumbledore called out, sounding frightened.

Atem had seen it often enough, so he recognized the look on Harry's face as Voldemort took possession over him. Harry didn't stand a chance, Atem knew that and that was why he hadn't relinquished his hold over Yugi's body. Harry collapsed.

/_The key!_/ Yugi called out.

Atem nodded, already digging for it in the little red bag around his neck. He found it and pulled it out. He took a sprint for Harry and without even looking at Dumbledore he put the key to Harry's forehead and twisted it, ignoring Harry's please to be killed.

Atem stepped into Harry's soul-room, respectfully averting his eyes from its contents. It wasn't his to see. All he needed to know was that Harry wasn't there, he turned around and left again. Out there, in the symbolic hallway Voldemort had a tight grip around that which passed for Harry's conscience. Harry had his eyes closed and clearly was in pain.

"Harry, listen to me", Atem said calmly. "You have to take him to the place where you have the advantage. He can't stand the light in your soul." He reached out a hand for the distressed boy who hadn't reacted on the Pharaoh's words. "Open your eyes Harry. Let me guide you." Voldemort clearly wasn't aware of Atem's presence, he too had his eyes closed.

The Spirit reached out his hand and took Harry's whose eyes snapped open. "What?"

Atem put a finger over his lips to show Harry that he had to be quiet. Atem just took a step backwards and Harry followed. When they reached the door opening which led to Harry's soul room Atem spoke. "The light, Harry, no one can fail to notice it. He won't be able to stand it. Enter your soul, like Yugi told you to."

"My soul-room?" Harry asked doubtful.

Atem nodded.

Harry took some hesitating steps into it. "Aren't you coming?"

"Intruding on other people's soul was what I was supposed to punish, not do myself", Atem said with a wink. "I'll wait here."

Without further hesitation Harry entered his soul-room. Voldemort's screams were terrible but it meant that Harry was stronger, in heart and soul Harry was stronger and Voldemort was getting burned by the light in them. Atem smiled and left, having done the last thing he had to do.

Atem opened his eyes to find himself in his own soul-room. Entering Harry's soul-room had made that he had relinquished Yugi's body back to Yugi. He looked around and smiled, glad to be back in the place which he called home.

/_There are lots of people here_/ Yugi informed Atem worried.

The Spirit gathered the last of his strength and appeared next to Yugi, invisible to anyone else. He sighed as he saw witches and wizards emerge from the fireplaces. Among them was Cornelius Fudge, Atem glared at him but the Minister couldn't see it.

/_We'll deal with them later, Aibou_/ Atem sighed and it was only because he couldn't faint that he didn't.

Yugi chuckled. /_Good idea. I think that's a very good idea_/ he sighed, he too was exhausted after the tension of the day. He felt tears streaming down his cheeks. /_For the moment I'm just glad you're back._/

/_Me too, Aibou, me too_/

* * *

><p>Alright, a lot of AN. Here goes:<p>

First off, I really hope this lived up to your expectations and sorry if it's a little long, I didn't want to split it. It was a lot of work to make the exchange of words between Lucius and Atem just right.

Second and completely unimportant: I took the Manga version when it came to Yugi's showdown with Duke since I like that one much and much better. It's far more important in the Manga than in the Anime. I especially like Jonouchi's part when he tries to save Yugi. The English version I found online wasn't as good though (I've read the Swedish translate) There Jonouchi's's thoughts are: 'If I need to safe Yugi, then I'll have to leave the other Yugi here … But … The link between them is so strong that it'll never break … What should I do?'

The Swedish version was far more beautiful. It came down to this: 'Am I willing to leave the Yugi I've just gotten to know behind in order to safe the one I've known longer.' First time I read that part I just put the Manga down right there and went out for a long walk.

Well, this was what you were all waiting for. Tell me what you thought!


	33. Leaving

I suppose you all just went through a traumatic experience reading the previous chapter since it's the chapter where I received the fewest reviews since the beginning of this story. You must have all gone into permanent shock or something. Thanks those who did review a lot. It was the chapter I was looking forward to publish most.

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><p>Harry was not sure if he had dreamed what he had seen. It felt that way. But it had to be true, right? Had Professor Muto not explained that progress to him earlier? Take an intruder to your soul-room, where you have the advantage. Harry had not even noticed his soul-room until the Spirit of the Puzzle, the Pharaoh, showed up and guided him that way. And just like the Pharaoh had told him, Voldemort had not been able to hold a grip over Harry when he entered his soul, he had just melted off him.<p>

Harry opened his eyes, saw his glasses lying by the heel of the headless statue that had been guarding him, but which now lay flat on its back, cracked and immobile. He put them on and raised his head a little to find Dumbledore's crooked nose inches from his own. "Are you all right, Harry?"

"Yes", Harry said, shaking so violently he could not hold his head up properly. "Yeah, I'm … where's Voldemort, where … who are all these … what's ..." He was too confused to find the right words. "What did the Pharaoh do?"

"Pharaoh, you say?" Dumbledore asked confused, ignoring the people who with flashes of green entered the Atrium. Cries as 'he was there' and 'I saw him' filled the room. Then understanding dawned upon Dumbledore as he looked at Yugi who was laying not far from knocked out against the demolished fountain. "I see."

"He was there!" a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail shouted, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain trapped only moments before. "I saw him, Mr Fudge, I swear it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disapparated!"

"I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!" gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pajamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles. "Merlin's beard … here … here! In the Ministry of Magic! … great heavens above … it doesn't seem possible … my word … how can this be?"

"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius", Dumbledore said, apparently satisfied that Harry was all right, and walking forwards so that the newcomers realized he was there for the first time. "You will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."

"Dumbledore!" gasped Fudge, beside himself with amazement. "You … here … I … I … "

Then one of the newcomers tugged at the Minister's robes. "Minister", the woman whispered shyly.

"What do you want, Crewe?" the Minister asked annoyed and pulled himself free.

"T … There", the woman stuttered and pointed towards the elevators. The crowd made place so they could follow the line of her finger. The sight that met them all was Lucius Malfoy, laying on the floor of an elevator.

Harry saw that Yugi looked too. He said a word of which Harry was fairly sure that it meant no good although he couldn't understand it.

"Lucius Malfoy!" the Minister called out furiously. "This can't be!"

"Very well. Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see … Dumbledore, you … you will need to tell me exactly … the Fountain of Magical Brethren … what happened?" he added in a kind of whimper, staring around at the floor, where the remains of the statues of the witch, wizard and centaur now lay scattered. "Proudfoot, see to Malfoy."

"We can discuss that after I have sent Harry and Professor Muto back to Hogwarts", said Dumbledore.

"Harry? Harry Potter?" Fudge stared at Harry who was leaning against the wall, still blown away from his experience within himself. Then Fudge stared at Yugi, who looked more dead than alive. He was ghostly pale and his eyes were closed. Harry was however pretty sure that his, he safely assumed previous, history teacher was very aware of what was going on. "What's wrong with him? What are they doing here?"

"Exhaustion, I believe", Dumbledore said, answering Fudge's first question. "They saved many lives tonight."

Harry could have sworn that a small smile fluttered across Yugi Muto's lips. Just for an instant, then it was gone.

"They?" Fudge bellowed, more and more angry. "You freed the Spirit! That foul being!"

Yugi's eyes opened at once. "Be very careful, Minister. First of all, I freed the Spirit, Dumbledore didn't know anything. Second of all, this 'foul being' is the reason this world still exists in the first place. Third of all, if you try to separate us again there will be consequences. I warned you!" Yugi closed his eyes again, he really was exhausted.

"I shall explain everything", Dumbledore said, ignoring Yugi who was now stared at by every other person in the Atrium. "After I get these two, or three one can say, back to the school."

He walked away from the pool to the place where the golden wizard's head lay on the floor. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, "_Portus_." The head glowed blue and trembled noisily against the wooden floor for a few seconds, then became still once more.

"Now see here, Dumbledore!' said Fudge, as Dumbledore picked up the head. "You haven't got authorization for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister for Magic, you … you …"

His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him magisterially over his half-moon spectacles.

"You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts", Dumbledore said. "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you …" Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and surveyed it … half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me."

Fudge goggled worse than ever; his mouth was open and his round face grew pinker under his rumpled gray hair. "I … You …"

An Auror came up with an elevator and ran into the Atrium yelling. "Minister! Someone broke into the Spirit Division."

Fudge glared at Dumbledore. Dumbledore just shrugged. "I know nothing about any of that."

"In that case he must stay and explain himself", Fudge yelled angrily and pointed at Yugi who once again opened his eyes. The look in it was dull and Harry understood how he felt. They had both suffered a loss tonight. He had to say that Yugi was acting far more calm than Harry felt although they both had lost someone that night.

The exhaustion could be heard in his voice when Yugi spoke once again. "The Spirit Division is an interesting place. It's no wonder you cloak it with so much mystery. what would happen to your reputation if you're methods were known? You needn't worry though, we've destroyed certain parts of it. We thought that would be best for anyone who would ever enter that place again." Yugi smiled as he saw the alarmed expression of the Minister. "If you want to talk further, we can do that after I've rested and grieved."

"Grieved?" the Minister asked frightened.

"Lucius Malfoy killed a Hogwarts student tonight. Rebecca Hawkins. She was a childhood friend of Professor Muto." Dumbledore waved Harry towards him. Together he and Dumbledore walked towards Yugi who was in no condition to move whatsoever.

Several cries erupted from among the gathered crowd, many of them having children at Hogwarts themselves. Most of them stared in disbelief at Lucius Malfoy, who they had all believed to be a respected wizard.

"Take the portkey", Dumbledore instructed Harry and Yugi. "Just place your hand on the head."

Harry and Yugi did as told and disappeared in a whirlwind of color and sound. Harry's feet hit solid ground; his knees buckled a little and the golden wizard's head fell with a resounding clunk to the floor. He looked around and saw that he had arrived in Dumbledore's office.

Professor Muto did not even try to land on his feet, he just dropped out of the air, hitting the ground with his back. He didn't get up. Harry wondered if he should ask if Yugi was okay, but he did not. Yugi was staring at the ceiling and was clearly still alive, that was the main point.

As the portraits stirred and came to life Harry tried to get out, but the door was locked. Instead he turned his back towards the door while examining the Professor on the floor while ignoring the interrogation of the portraits. Did the man laying close to lifeless on the floor feel the same sorrow as Harry? That could not be possible, no one could be that calm feeling like this. He felt trapped inside his own head and body, he wished he could be anyone else … anybody …

Then green flames burst to life in the fireplace in Dumbledore's office and the rightful Headmaster entered. Neither Yugi nor Harry reacted while the portraits cried welcomes.

Dumbledore ignored the two of them at first, although he threw the teacher on the floor in the center of his office a confused and worried glance. The elder man sat down in a random chair in his office. Harry followed him with his gaze, Professor Muto however could quite possibly have failed to notice Dumbledore had entered at all considering the amount of attention he seemed to pay.

"I suppose you will be pleased to hear that no one who survived the battle will suffer lasting consequences. Nymphadora Tonks may have to spend some time in St Mungo's however. I believe we have Professor Muto and his Spirit to thank for the relatively small amount of people who died in comparison to how many could have died."

Harry just stared at the Headmaster. A relatively small amount? Sirius and Rebecca had died, was that a relatively small amount of people? Professor Muto seemed to agree since he bolted up and send the Headmaster a deadly glare.

Dumbledore didn't seem to be the least bothered though, he just seemed tired. He turned to Professor Muto and said. "I suggest you rest. I'll take contact with Rebecca's guardian …"

The history teacher interrupted him sharply. "No! I'll take contact with Raphael. He hates magic even more than Rebecca and I do … Or did."

"Then I assume I will receive your resignation before the end of term", Dumbledore said. "It is a shame. You've affected the students greatly."

"I made that some of them suffer of PTSD", Yugi snorted and dragged himself from the ground. He met Harry's eyes for a couple of seconds before he adverted them in shame. Then Yugi frowned and sighed. "The Pharaoh says I should stop taking responsibility for things I haven't done and repeat the sentence properly. The Spirit possessing me made that some of the students suffer of PTSD." Yugi chuckled darkly. "Did you not tell me that you had to think about your students first?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Your, or his, methods might have been questionable, but their effect can't be doubted. Additionally, was it intended?"

Yugi shook his head. "No, it was not. Nonetheless, I am not willing to continue at this school. There is not much left for me here. I believe I'm going to get back on the surface of the earth. I have some old friends who perhaps are willing to forgive me for my sudden disappearance. Perhaps I'll go home, take over grandpa's business. I don't know."

Dumbledore looked down. "I see, I won't deny I would have appreciated your help in the coming battles. Instead I'll thank you for the things you and the Pharaoh did last night."

"It wasn't enough", Yugi said and walked towards the door. "I assume I can leave now. You'll have my resignation before the end of the week."

"Professor Muto, you have my condolences", Dumbledore said, clearly having dismissed the history teacher.

"Professor, wait!" Harry said. "There is something you need to know."

Professor Muto frowned as he turned towards Harry. "Do I?"

"A Prophecy was made about you, at the beginning of the year I don't understand it but perhaps you do."

Professor Muto raised an eyebrow. "A Prophecy, about us? Why didn't anyone say this earlier?"

"Because no one takes Professor Trelawney serious, everyone thinks she's a fake. But two years ago she made a Prophecy which was real and the one she made about you, sir, was real too. At least we think it is."

Professor Muto had now his undivided attention on Harry. "Let's hear it then."

Harry nodded and frowned as he did his best to remember the Prophecy word for word. "The old and the grieving are in the castle … They seek what destroys and anticipate its arrival ... Yet never will they find what they seek … Another loss will be suffered at the hands of the same … The possibilities are two separate ways … What one sees as a weakness the others see as a strength … If they switch places the darkness will return into his heart and the grieving will lose his light."

Dumbledore seemed troubled at those words, but did not speak. Neither did Professor Muto whose gaze was turned inwardly, conversing with the Pharaoh, perhaps. Harry did not know, couldn't know. The paintings started chattering loudly, discussing what it could mean.

"I think I understand", Professor Muto said effectively making the paintings shut up. Harry was glad for that little fact, the paintings were getting on his nerves.

"You do?" Dumbledore asked doubtful.

"Yes. I suppose so did you, to a certain degree", Professor Muto said, turning to the Gryffindor.

Harry nodded. "We understood that it was about you and Ron said that 'what destroys' could be vengeance."

"Mister Weasley was quite right", Professor Muto said and turned to face the door again, clearly not intending to leave an explanation.

"Please, Yugi", Dumbledore said, his tone not tolerating objection, "could you clarify its contents to us."

Professor Muto sighed deeply. "It's already been fulfilled. Is there any point?" Neither Harry nor Dumbledore replied so Professor Muto sighed again. "The old and the grieving, me and the Pharaoh. Although that was obvious. Seek what destroys and anticipate its arrival. The both of us really wanted take out our revenge on Lucius Malfoy. But never will they find what they seek. How do I explain this correctly …"

Yugi sat down on a random chair in the Headmaster's office and closed his eyes.

"Lucius told the Pharaoh he was weak because Atem told him he wasn't going to kill him. Lucius saw our incapability of killing him as a weakness, while I and Atem had always seen it as a strength, even then. Had the Pharaoh and I learned to see the ability to kill as a strength and Lucius had learned to see it as a weakness then the Pharaoh would have returned to the way he was before he expelled the darkness from his heart and I wouldn't have had the light left to guide him back. He killed Rebecca in order to make us and especially the Pharaoh change his mind and make us mad enough to kill him … and he almost succeeded too. But it did not suffice, we could not kill him even after that, not in the end, thanks to you Harry."

Harry took a step back in surprise and stepped into a spindly-legged table. "Me?"

"Yes", Yugi confirmed. "You and Voldemort. When Voldemort told the Pharaoh to listen to his hatred he was reminded of the battles we had fought, mostly battles against those misled by their hatred which makes the Shadows so strong. He couldn't go through with it although he previous to that really had all intentions to kill him and so had I, I won't deny it." Yugi shook his head, to get the buzzing thoughts in his head sorted out. "But … we'd never find what we seek … and it's true. One can say we sought sweet revenge, but not even when we were both completely set on killing him could any of us enjoy it. Sweet revenge is something we'll never accomplish. The Prophecy has been fulfilled, I still have my guiding light, and the Pharaoh's heart is still free from the darkness."

Both Harry and Dumbledore stared at the young man who was clearly exhausted. Dumbledore had been surprised that the young man was important enough for the coming events that a Prophecy had been made about him and his odd companion. Few realized exactly how rare a Prophecy was. Since the beginning of magic only a little more than a million had been made and magic had existed for a very long time, although in may different forms. The mere fact that a Prophecy had been made about the two meant that they had a great part to play in coming events. Why was it so important that the two remained pure of heart?

Harry did have no such pondering, he just stared at the Professor he had never understood. He had so easily given in to his hatred, he had never even thought half as much about the consequences of hatred as the Japanese clearly did on a daily basis.

Professor Muto turned around without deeming any of them worthy of another glance. He put a hand on the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it didn't move. He tried again, more forceful, but didn't have any more luck.

"I'm sorry", Dumbledore said and pointed his wand at the door. Without the elderly man saying a word the door sprung open and Professor Muto walked out, hands in his pockets, head and shoulders hanging. A sad figure to witness. Harry had the feeling they hadn't seen the last of him yet.

"Harry, I understand how you feel", Dumbledore said.

White hot anger leaped through Harry, then and there still unaware about the horrible truth. Either he'd kill Voldemort, or Voldemort would kill him. Harry's anger faded when he learned, leaving only place for a large hole in his chest and he suddenly understood how Professor Muto could have been so calm. Such a hole did not leave place for anger and the Professor had been walking around with a hole for a long time now, last night it had just gotten a bit larger.

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><p><strong>HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNS<strong>

_'In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned to this country and is once more active._

_"It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord - well, you know who I mean - is alive and among us again," said Fudge, looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters. "It is with almost equal regret that we report the mass revolt of the Dementors of Azkaban, who have shown themselves averse to continuing in the Ministry's employ. We believe the Dementors are currently taking direction from Lord - Thingy._

_"We urge the magician population to remain vigilant. The Ministry is currently publishing guides to elementary home and personal defense which will be delivered free to all Wizarding homes within the coming month."_

_'The Minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the Wizarding community, which as recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry assurances that there was "no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumors that You-Know-Who is operating amongst us once more"._

_'Details of the events that led to the Ministry turnaround are still hazy, though it is believed that He Who Must Not Be Named and a select band of followers (known as Death Eaters) gained entry to the Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening._

_'Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reinstated member of the International Confederation of Wizards and reinstated Chief_

_Warlock of the Wizengamot, has so far been unavailable for comment. He has insisted over the past year that You-Know-Who is not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but is recruiting followers once more for afresh attempt to seize power. Meanwhile, the "Boy Who Lived" –_

/_It took them a year to realize that_/ Yugi sighed and threw the paper away, it landed on the table with a thud. He had done that so often the past year that the motion was done without him even thinking. He was pretty sure that he'd never had read a newspaper as worthless as the Daily Prophet.

/_At least things will change now. The DA might not exist anymore, but their efforts weren't in vain_/ Atem replied calming.

/_We're ours?_/

/_Our efforts? No, I don't think so. I think we managed to teach them something_/ Atem said, understanding Yugi's doubt perfectly. He put a transparent hand on his host's shoulder. Together they walked towards the window. The weather was perfect and it seemed it would remain that way. The students enjoyed it, although the mood was low, the only ones playing and running around were a group of first years.

Tracey had returned to the school together with Professor Dumbledore but it was quite clear she was not comfortable. Yugi was pretty sure she would not be returning to the school after the summer, although Tracey had not stated that out loud. She had not done her OWLs and that was a complication. Yugi supposed that he'd learn more about it later. She, Dean and Peter would be attending Rebecca's funeral with him.

Rebecca's death was common knowledge in the school, although no one really knew what had happened. With exception for those who had been in the Ministry themselves, of course. Yugi had received a letter from Raphael before he had the chance to take contact telling him that Raphael knew that Rebecca was dead and that they'd take that when they could talk face to face. Raphael was not willing to take it over letters and owls. Yugi had been surprised, _how could Raphael have known_? But Yugi chose not to question it.

It was also common knowledge that he was leaving the school. The reactions to that had differed, several students had expressed disappointment while others said it was for the better. Not one of them knew that Atem was back, Yugi had not shown himself once ever since the puzzle was taken and all he knew about the school was what he saw through his window and what Dobby and Tracey told him. The two of them came to visit him on regular basis.

Fudge had taken Yugi's words to heart and would come to see him that afternoon, together with a reporter of the Daily Prophet. Yugi had considered refusing when Dumbledore had told him that but he had told Fudge they could talk more later and thus they would. Yugi and Atem were both slightly on edge and the article about Voldemort didn't make Yugi feel much better.

/_Calm down, Yugi. There is another hour left_/ Atem said, feeling Yugi's nervousness almost as his own.

/_What if they try to take you away again?/ _Yugi asked. It was his primal worry, surely it had been said that the only people present would be the reporter and the Minister, Yugi's terms had been no Aurors, but Yugi's trust for the wizards was close to nonexistent and he wouldn't be surprised if they did another attempt to catch Atem.

/_Then I'll be ready for them_/ Atem said reassuring. This time he would not hesitate to use the Shadows against the men from the Ministry if they tried anything. They had been warned.

Dobby brought them lunch but from nervousness Yugi was incapable of taking even the smallest of bites. Dobby still hadn't ceased expressing his happiness over Atem's return, every time he brought them a meal he jumped around with joy over the spirits return, it was hard to believe that Dobby at first had been so afraid of him. As far as Yugi knew Dobby never took his earrings off and they flickered happily in the candle-light. They'd be leaving something behind.

The doors still hadn't been replaced mostly because Yugi never had informed anyone about their absence. That's why the Minister knocked on the doorpost instead of on the door when he arrived.

"Come in", Yugi spoke just loud enough for the Minister to hear. The two men entered hesitatingly, the Minister stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the decoration of the room. He felt as if he just had entered a completely different world and in a way he had.

Yugi made a gesture towards the table, inviting the two men to sit down. The two hesitated but eventually the reporter sat down, closely followed by Fudge. The two were however still staring at Yugi's duplicate of the Tablet of Lost Memories. Yugi had considered covering it up, but he had decided that the two could make something out of it themselves.

When Yugi sat down himself Fudge tore his gaze away and looked at Yugi instead. "This is Andy Smudgley from the Daily Prophet."

Yugi just nodded. "You came here to speak, Minister, so speak. I have nothing to say." His tone was hostile and he'd keep them on a short leash, hoping to be rid of them sooner rather than later.

"You have broken a large amount of rules when you freed the Spirit", the Minister said carefully, obviously afraid of angering either Yugi or the soul he was bearing. Yugi just waited for him to continue. "You have freed a highly dangerous creature."

To the two elder men's astonishment Yugi started to laugh. "I hope you heard that partner, they deem you a highly dangerous creature. At least this time they didn't call you foul." Then Yugi turned towards the Minister, all the laughter vaporized from his voice. "He is the most dangerous person you'll ever come across, certainly the most powerful. Powerful enough to free someone being possessed by Voldemort …" The two men jumped out of fear when they heard the name. "Powerful enough to heal those closer to death than life." Yugi sighed. "He did all those things in the Ministry, Dumbledore must have told you. What is your point?"

A quill was writing down every word and when Yugi caught sight of the words he was pleased to notice that the quill at least was writing the things said instead of warping the truth. He put a protective hand over the puzzle as he looked the Minister in the eyes.

"Tell me exactly what you did in the Spirit Division", Fudge ordered.

Yugi threw the reporter a look and decided to be annoying. "Why is there a room of destroyed spirits in the Division?"

The Minister looked slightly alarmed at the question and neither Yugi nor Atem missed the hurried look Fudge gave the reporter who looked up interested. /_Do you think he thought us to be naive or do you think that the reporter has been bribed?_/ Atem asked.

Yugi just chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know, partner", he said, purposely out loud.

"Answer the question!" Fudge ordered through clenched teeth.

Yugi considered pushing his previous question through but changed his mind. He wanted rid of these two. Smudgley had turned to the Tablet of Lost Memories again and was looking at it wide-eyed, he could impossibly have missed the resemblance between Yugi and the man on the Tablet.

"Rebecca gathered the information required on how to get into the Spirit Division. When we had acquired that information it was just waiting for the right moment. Someone informed us about the fact that Potter and some others would make their way into the Department of Mysteries and that the Ministry was abandoned. We teamed up, some went down to the Department of Mysteries and others went with me to the Spirit Division, those who also care for him. We were attacked by Inferi but we got rid of them, burned them."

Fudge threw the reporter another look before turning his gaze on his fingers. Atem went to stand next to the Minister and looked at the man's hands hidden under the table. /_Bribed. He's counting on his fingers_/

Yugi laughed again. "Why did you bribe the reporter? Are the secrets of the Spirit Division really that horrible? Don't play games with me."

Smudgley looked up confused. "What? I'm not bribed!" It was more than obvious he was telling the truth. Yugi frowned, was he putting the man in danger?

"There are no secrets regarding the Spirit Division!" Fudge cried out loudly.

"Of course not", Yugi said and put his elbow on the table. "It's public knowledge that there resided an army of Inferi there. It's also public knowledge that the method of separating a person from a spirit is to torture the person until the spirit leaves since he can't take it anymore. Everyone knows that a Judas Chair is, excuse me, was standing there and an English Rack and an Iron Maiden. How often does the human in question survive? One out of ten times? Less?"

The reporter looked shocked as he quickly turned from the Minister to Yugi and back again. The pen was writing fiercely. /_It's still just writing what is said_/ Atem informed Yugi quietly. He was not comfortable with the turn of the conversation.

"Possessing Spirits are dangerous and dark creatures! To sacrifice one life to destroy one is a low price to pay!" the Minister called out, losing his temper.

Yugi didn't react, neither did Atem. If anything, Fudge's confession made Yugi calmer. "We burned the Inferi and tried to break down the door leading to where the puzzle was kept. It did not work. Instead we broke the window through which the house-elves keep watch. I solved the puzzle and got the Spirit back and after we blew up every torture instrument in the Division we went down to the Department of Mysteries, thinking the others could use our help. We were damn right too. Anything else you wanted to know, Minister?" His voice was low and steady all the way through, his repulsion couldn't be heard unless one knew him well.

"No parent will allow a possessed teacher at Hogwarts", the Minister threatened.

Yugi sighed again. "Not a formerly possessed teacher either. I'll leave this school together with the students at the end of term and the wizarding world will never hear from me again. I hate this world, I really hate it."

"Why?" the reporter asked.

The Minister glared at Smudgley who quickly pressed his lips together, regretting his question. "What did you do to Lucius Malfoy!"

"Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater", Yugi said, glad that he was in control and not Atem. Atem's mere expression could have given the two a heart attack out of fear. Yugi made a subduing gesture and the Pharaoh walked away from the trio and stood in front of the window instead. The downside of sharing a body was that one always was together, without exception. Atem and Yugi were use, but at the moment Atem wanted to be alone, at the same time he wouldn't want to miss the conversation.  
>"He killed Rebecca, a Hogwarts student and I nor the Spirit reacted fast enough to safe her life. We lost all common sense, the both of us, and Lucius Malfoy found out first hand what happens to those who harm the people we care for. He's lucky to be alive."<p>

"You tried to kill him?" the Minister asked, becoming pale.

Yugi smirked darkly. "Yes, at first. But sweet revenge is nothing we will ever experience. He changed his mind."

"The Spirit decided to let him live?" Fudge asked disbelieving.

"We both did", Yugi corrected him. "Both he and I, each for ourselves, decided that we shouldn't kill him. We have a certain experience with revenge and how destructive it is. It was a lesson we needed to learn, and we learned it, it only took us five years."

"You've only known about this world for a year", Fudge said confused.

Yugi looked at the pictures on the wall and was silent. "I've known Lucius Malfoy longer", he whispered, too low for the two men to hear. He raised his voice to regular tone again. "Anything else?"

"I'd like to ask you if you can keep the things you saw in the Spirit Division secret", Fudge said and it was Atem warning which alerted Yugi on the fact that the Minister had reached for his wand. The reporter looked shocked from the Minister to Yugi and back to the Minister again. He was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.

/_How corrupt_/ Atem said with a disgusted snort.

/_It's not out problem_/ Yugi said calmly. Then he turned to the Minister and chuckled. "No secrets, right." He shook his head. "Like I said, I'll be gone soon. I have no business left with the wizarding world or the Ministry of Magic."

The Minister understood. "Then I have nothing left to say. Neither has he", Fudge said and pointed at Smudgley who didn't seem to agree, but understood enough about what was going on to be quiet. He looked afraid.

Yugi just stood up. /_I had expected them to at least ask who you are_/

/_I think they intended, as a cover, while subtly letting you know that you ought to keep quiet about the Spirit Division. Smudgley would let everyone know about me and no one would have had any suspicions about this visit. I just think you were too offensive for them_/ Atem said.

/_Then bringing Smudgley worked against him_/ Yugi stated.

Atem nodded. /_I don't think there will be an article_/

"I doubt I have to show you the door", Yugi said, dismissing them without any hint of subtlety.

The Minister strode out quickly, Smudgley followed slowly, his eyes transfixed on the Tablet of Lost Memories once again. He surely wanted to know who the Spirit was. Then he too left. Yugi just hoped he'd survive, he thought the man would, although he'd probably have his memory adjusted. Atem was right, this world was as corrupt as most others.

/_It'll be weird to leave this place. It's the closest to a home we've had for a long time, regardless of how corrupt it all is_/ Atem said, uncharacteristically nostalgic. Yugi was the nostalgic one.

/_Let's take a walk_/ Yugi suggested and with the transparent form of Atem next to him he walked out the room into the main areas of the castle. Most students were outside and the few he met pretended he didn't exist.

/_We've stayed too long in one place_/ Yugi stated when a student saw him as he rounded a corner and fled into a nearby classroom.

Atem didn't reply. He, unlike Yugi, wasn't so sure if it was a bad thing. Perhaps ties was what they needed, even if the ties were to people who feared them. When he reached the Entrance Hall he heard voices.

"You're going to pay. I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to my father."

Yugi saw Malfoy, Draco Malfoy accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle, taking out his anger on Harry. Though his anger wasn't convincing, he was devastated more than angry.

He walked down the stairs casually, the four boys hadn't noticed him yet. As Yugi was halfway down he spoke. "You should be grateful, Malfoy", Yugi said, just loud enough for the four to hear.

With a loud gasp Draco turned towards their former history teacher.

Yugi just continued. "Had I gotten to your father before the Aurors he would not have been alive anymore."

Draco took some shocked steps backwards. "What?" he stammered.

"I've lost everyone I care for at his hands. I'd have killed him. Now get out of my sight."

Yugi didn't have to repeat that. Faster than he had held for possible the three Slytherins left the Entrance Hall. One could hear Malfoy swearing even after he had left the hall.

"But Professor", Harry said eventually, after the two of them had stared in the direction Malfoy had left a while, "you were first. Why can't he know?"

Yugi didn't know. The words had just felt right when he had said them. "You have my condolences", he just said. Then he walked past Harry and for a moment he put a hand on his shoulder, considering that Harry was taller the gesture would have looked slightly odd from an outside point of view, but it didn't matter. "Some things people are better off not knowing."

Little else happened the remaining days. The day before the term ended Yugi was lucky enough to see Umbridge being chased out of the castle by Peeves. It was the best he had felt ever since he had gotten Atem back. Like Atem had predicted no article was made and the Prophet only published instructions on how to act now that it was confirmed that Voldemort was back.

He did not attend the end-of-term feast. Instead he returned the classroom, his office and his chamber back to their original forms. They looked suddenly a whole lot darker. /_I'm going to miss this place_/ Atem said as he paced around the room in Spirit form.

/_I don't think I will_/ Yugi said and with those words he left his room to never return there again.

* * *

><p>Halfway through I realized I had written everything in Swedish. Beats me how I managed to do that but I rewrote it in a language a larger amount of you will understand. Good thing English is such a nice language to write in, imagine the worlds most important language to be dutch, yuck , it sounds and looks so horrible.<p>

Can you believe this story has been going on for nine months. Next chapter is Epilogue, I think.  
>Please review!<p> 


	34. Epilogue

I'm going to please a lot of readers with this chapter. Well, it's the last one, enjoy it like you've never enjoyed a chapter before.

**Epilogue**

* * *

><p>"I thought I would find you here", the voice said and although Yugi had not heard it for five years he knew who it belonged to at once.<p>

"Did you?" Yugi asked as he stared down at the monument carrying his friend's name.

"Yes. I've been coming here every day ever since the funeral. I didn't think you could stay away forever", the young man said and came to stand next to Yugi. "You had to come pay your respects sooner or later."

"You've been very patient", Yugi remarked, still not looking at the other.

"I didn't only come here for you. I pay my respects too. I like being here, I can remember the good, besides, I have little else to do", he said with a sigh.

"I feel guilty", Yugi said slowly, "because I wasn't there for their funerals."

"I'm sure they'll forgive you. You are here now, aren't you?" he said with a soft smile and put down a flower on the grave. A white rose.

"Thank you, Ryou", Yugi said and looked at his old friend who was holding an additional amount of four white roses in his hands. His sign to let everyone know that he had been there. "Do you bring them roses every day?" Yugi had a hard time believing that.

Ryou shook his head. "Once a week and on special days. He must be glad you finally chose to show. I believe he's tired of having only me to visit him. His father never does, his mother only sometimes. I see Shizuka here at times though, I usually pay my respects to the others first and wait until she's gone before I come here."

"I believe that Shizuka's presence would make Jonouchi most happy, she's most important to him." Yugi looked at his friends grave, wishing he could leave something behind. "And Mai? Does she ever come?"

"I haven't seen her", he said, then frowned. "Why are you speaking English?"

Yugi chuckled. "I have spent some time in England."

"I didn't believe the rumors", Ryou said and turned away from Jonouchi's grave as he and Yugi slowly made their way to the grave directly next to Jonouchi's. "They were buried with a day between each funeral. I spent more than a week doing nothing else but attending funerals. At the time I wished I would have left, like you did. It weren't peaceful funerals, they were too many too fast after each other. We were all burned out at the end of it. The funerals were horrible, don't feel guilty for having missed them, what matters is that you are here now."

They stopped in front of Anzu's grave. Yugi was the albino grateful for his kind words and his lack of questions. He assumed that they would come eventually and he would deal with them, later. As if Ryou had heard his thoughts he put down a rose and said: "I won't ask too much, but are you going to stay?"

Yugi nodded. "I think so. The game shop … ?"

"Is silently waiting for your return. It's in good shape, even the remaining inventory, although some of it might be slightly outdated", Ryou assured him. "Are you going to open it again?"

"That was my intention", Yugi sighed and looked at the sky before moving on to the next grave. Honda's grave was well kept and a lot of flowers and incense were on it. Ryou put down his white rose. "His family comes here all the time, with the dog, although it's not allowed."

"I suppose mischief runs in the family then", Yugi said with an unconvincing smile. Ryou returned the smile nonetheless and put a hand on Yugi's shoulder. Together they moved on to the next grave.

"I don't even know him", Ryou said as he put down the flower. "Since he was in the tomb I just feel obliged to maintain his grave as much as that of the others. No one else ever comes here."

Yugi sighed. It wasn't all that surprising that no one ever visited Kaiba's grave. Although he had expected Mokuba to visit at least, but apparently not. "Mokuba?"

Ryou shrugged. "I have no idea. Kaiba Corporation was sold to Schroeder Corporation and yet Kaiba Land is still build all over the world. I don't really know, but I suppose Mokuba is somewhere in that business."

"It would make sense", Yugi said and realized just how much he had missed during the time he had been gone. Not only his year in Hogwarts, but all five years.

Before Yugi could move on to the next grave Ryou put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him from moving on. "Do you have a place to stay?"

The fact was that Yugi hadn't. He was so used to living without having a place to stay that he hadn't even given it a thought. He always spent the night somehow, it usually figured itself out. He shook his head.

"Then I'll wait outside the graveyard for you." He handed his last flower to Yugi and walked out without giving a hint of explanation. Yugi looked after him. The survivor really hadn't changed much, he was still as kind as he always had been. Exactly how kind Yugi didn't realize until his eyes fell upon the next grave. His grandfather's name was the last drop and Yugi fell to his knees, weeping like a child. He was the only relative his grandfather had left and he had not even been present at the funeral. He hung his head in shame.

"I'm so sorry grandpa", he whispered through his tears. And for once he felt like a child again, a child who really needed his grandfather's support and he felt like he had it. "Everything is chaos." Talking to the grave didn't feel the least weird, it felt good. "I became a teacher at a school for wizards and witches. Did you know Rebecca was a witch? She hated it. They are at war, a man named Voldemort tries to take over the Wizarding World and make all non-magical people slaves. The man who killed you is one of his followers, but he's in prison now. I could have killed him, I've wanted it, but in the end I couldn't do it. He killed Rebecca." New tears sprung to Yugi's eyes and there was nothing he could do about it. "It's chaos when it comes to the Shadows too. They're not gone, since Atem couldn't pass into the afterlife they weren't destroyed. The Pharaoh is still with me, he's stuck here, I feel so bad for him. The Shadow creatures are acting on their own and the Dominion of the Beasts has started to interfere too. They are both trying to get the Shadows gone forever. Its not a bad thing, but they don't have any limits. They knew Rebecca was going to die, they wanted it to happen. They told Raphael Rebecca was going to die, he was her guardian after her grandpa died, and he let it happen."

That little fact was something Yugi had a hard time comprehending. Yugi hadn't been mad at him, if Raphael chose to let her die he must have had one hell of a good reason. A reason Raphael hadn't shared with Yugi, but the Japanese hadn't pushed on either. Raphael wouldn't bulge anyway. Even though he had known, he had been devastated.

"He knows more than he told me. He is glad I didn't kill Lucius though. Glad I learned to let go of my hatred. I never realized I couldn't get rid of the Shadows as long as my hatred and Atem's was fueling them. I suppose that's why the beasts wanted Rebecca to die, it was the only thing which could make me and Atem confront our hatred. It was a gamble though, a test, we could just as easily have failed it."

Yugi was comforted in an odd way. Pouring his heart out to the person which had always been his haven, although not always equally reliable, was something he had really needed. The tears dried and although the grief after either of his friends hadn't lessened the slightest bit, it seemed more bearable. The same thing counted for his guilt and worry.

"I'm going to open the Kame Game Shop again", Yugi said with a modest smile. "Pegasus will be pleased to hear I've resurfaced, I'll have to disappoint him though. It'll be hard coming back here, but I'll manage, somehow. I ran into Ryou, he doesn't seem to be angry. I have him to thank for taking care of you for such a long time, but from now on this is something I'll do. This flower is from him, he gave it to me." He put down the white rose. "Although I suppose you already knew that. He'll have lots of questions and I can't answer most of them. Rebecca thought they had a right to know, not only Mokuba and Ryou, but all of them, I just don't have the privilege to tell." Yugi sighed. "I make it sound like a cheap excuse. I don't know what's right or wrong anymore, Grandpa."

He got no reply and it was an uncanny reminder that the thing he was talking to was a tombstone. His grandfather might still be in his heart, but he didn't let his truthful and not always easy words be heard. Yugi stood up and looked at the next grave. The name wasn't one he recognized. He turned away from the graves and started to walk towards the exit. First now he noticed that Atem had given him complete privacy and he was grateful

/_You can come out now_/ Yugi told his partner. He received no reply but he could feel Atem's presence.

Like he had said Ryou was waiting just outside the graveyard. He didn't say anything when he saw Yugi coming and Yugi realized his eyes must have been red from crying. He decided not to care. The sun had started its trip down and the dusk was starting to surround them.

"Come on. I don't live far from here. You can stay the night and tomorrow you can deal with the formalities." As if Ryou had felt Yugi's heavy load he gave a soft and kind smile. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Both of you."

Yugi held back a laughter of hopelessness. Of course Ryou had known, it wasn't even a surprise. He just hoped Ryou was right, starting over felt like the hardest task he had ever been faced with.

* * *

><p>And that is the end of it. For now.<br>Those of you who have reviewed a lot have already known for a while that I'll be doing a sequal. Don't ask me what it will be named or when it will be up. Should be in a week or something. Just keep a look out for it.

Well, review like you have never reviewed before.


End file.
